Talk To Me
by UpWithLuke
Summary: An accident happens to Luke and puts both Luke and Lorelai in an uncomfortable position. But it's OK, though, because it gives them the opportunity to brainstorm and come out with a few fun ideas. Set in no particular season, but Rory is still at Chilton and Luke and Lorelai are both single. JavaJunkie.
1. Chapter 1

**TALK TO ME**

_**An accident happens to Luke and puts both Luke and Lorelai in an uncomfortable position. But it's OK, though, because it gives them the opportunity to brainstorm and come out with a few fun ideas. Set in no particular season, but Rory is still at Chilton and Luke and Lorelai are both single. JavaJunkie.**_

**AN: Many many thanks to my precious beta, Junienmomo!**

_Chapter 1_

The hospital doors swung open and a tall brunette with long curly hair and sparkling blue eyes entered in a hurry. Her high heels resonated through the hall while she half-walked and half-trotted, turning to her right to greet the nurse at the information desk. "Hi Sue! Nice coat! I like the sexy-nurse look on you!" she winked awkwardly while waving in the nurse's direction, her hair bouncing in sync with her fast pace.

"Thanks Lorelai. Same as every day. It almost makes me believe that I _am _a sexy nurse!" Sue giggled.

"You definitely are, honey!" Lorelai added in a slightly higher tone, to make her statement heard while she increased her speed to enter the elevator before its doors closed. She positioned herself between a teen-aged girl and an old woman, unconsciously creating a living age range. She sighed loudly, happy to be on track for her daily routine. She straightened her jacket over her hips to regain her composure after the short run. The elevator stopped with a ting at the second floor and she stepped out, smiling her goodbyes to the people still waiting to reach the desired floor. She then turned to her right and started walking through the long corridor, just like she'd been doing every day for the last week. She was softly humming an unrecognizable song, stopping only to greet the nurses she met, whom she already knew by name. She was wearing grey slacks, a flowery shirt and a grey form-fitting jacket. Her very formal attire clearly showed that she was coming directly from work and that she was due to go back to work at the end of her visit. In fact, she had arranged her duties so that she could come to the hospital every day, just after lunch, and stay there for a couple of hours. Since the night she found out about the accident, there was no way on earth that she could even think about skipping one single daily visit to her best friend Luke.

That fatal night Lorelai was in Hartford having dinner with her parents and her daughter Rory, as they usually did on Fridays. After dinner, she and Rory drove back to Stars Hollow, singing at the top of their lungs, just happy to have survived another Friday night at the infamous Gilmore mansion which, according to Lorelai, was the source of all evil. As soon as Lorelai stopped her Jeep in front of her house, they saw a short blond woman coming running to them, panting and yelling with a very raspy voice that something happened to Luke and that he was now at the hospital.

"Calm down Babette! We can't understand a single word," Lorelai told the woman while seizing her by her shoulders and looking in her eyes "It seemed that you said that Luke's at the hospital, but that's just impossible. We were at his diner a couple of hours ago to drink our usual pre-dinner coffee and he was his perfectly healthy and grumpy usual self."

Babette, one hand on her heart, still panting because of her short run from the neighboring house, tried to regain her breath. "It happened later, Sugah. He was out of the diner, disposing of the day's garbage as he usually does each night. You know, running a diner he must have a lot of garbage. I just can't imagine how many huge bags he has to carry out and about each day." Babette's eyes went wide at the thought of the quantity of garbage the poor man had to handle every day.

"Babette, please, focus!" Lorelai snapped her fingers in front of her neighbor's face to bring her attention back to the story she was telling.

"Right. So, as I was saying, he was out of the diner disposing of his daily garbage when a very heavy flowerpot fell from Mrs. Gleason's balcony, hitting him hard on his head. Luckily enough, Kirk was passing nearby, so he immediately called the Ambulance and alerted the town that Luke was being transported to the hospital with a concussion." Babette got closer to Lorelai and Rory and lowered her voice in a conspirational tone "We still don't understand the reason why Kirk was out that late at night, that's quite intriguing, you know…"

Lorelai was not in the mood to gossip about Kirk's nightly habits, so she cut Babette off asking her "Do you know if he's OK?"

"Oh Sugah…" Babette started whining, "he's in a coma!"

That night Lorelai tried in vain to get some sleep, but she couldn't get Luke off her mind. She knew she couldn't go to see him that late at night because she was not part of his family and they probably wouldn't let her see him, but not knowing anything about him was killing her. She didn't know whether he was still in a coma, or he already woke up, or… _No. He's fine. He is strong. He is the healthiest person I ever met and he will be OK very soon. He will recover perfectly and he will soon be able to rant and banter again. _But she didn't know it for sure, and that was simply unbearable.

So she arranged her daily routine in the only way that could allow her a couple of hours each day to go to the hospital and see her friend, and she tried to completely stop any feeling or concern about him; she had always been better at keeping herself occupied instead of analyzing things. Not going to the hospital was simply not an option because not knowing what was going on there would make her think and worry about Luke nonstop, just like she did during that awful first night. She simply needed to check the situation with her own eyes, talk to Luke for a couple of hours, and then she was ready to face her day again - if only she could ignore that persistent knot in the pit of her stomach.

However, today it seemed that someone wanted to disrupt her daily routine: a young tall doctor was waiting outside Luke's door. When he saw Lorelai approaching, he started walking towards her, holding out his right hand with the clear intention of shaking Lorelai's hand. "Excuse me. I'm Doctor Sullivan. Are you Mr. Danes' girlfriend?"

Lorelai was taken aback by the question and immediately started to panic. _Oh my God, here we are. He will discover that I'm neither family nor his girlfriend and I won't be able to come and see him anymore. _She took a sharp intake of breath and braced herself for what was coming, shaking the doctor's hand and starting to ramble one mile a minute, as it was her habit whenever she felt uncomfortable.

"Lorelai Gilmore. Actually I'm just a friend. A very good friend. He's maybe the best friend I ever had! Were you looking for a girlfriend here? Because, if you were… well, I don't think there actually is one. Of course, I can't be 100% sure about it, because Luke is a very private person, but I'm pretty certain that I should know by now if he had a girlfriend."

"It's OK, Miss Gilmore. I was not looking for his girlfriend. I only wanted to talk to you. I noticed you come here always at the same hour, so I was waiting for you."

Lorelai stopped rambling, but didn't stop being worried. "Oh" she quietly exhaled.

"Please follow me," Doctor Sullivan instructed and guided her to a nearby office, then kept the door opened for her to enter the room. "Please, have a seat," he said while circling the wooden desk at the center of the room and sitting behind it.

She sat rigidly, her back stiff, her hands trapped between her long legs, still feeling anxious about what he was going to tell her. "Is he OK?" she blurted.

Doctor Sullivan took in her concerned attitude and immediately said "Oh yes, he's fine! Well, at least nothing new happened from yesterday, when you last saw him."

Lorelai immediately released the breath she didn't know she was holding. Her main cause of fear gone, she could start to relax a little. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked, crossing her legs and shifting on the chair so that she could now rest her back.

"As I told you, I noticed that you always come visiting him at the same hour of the day. Do you know why I did?"

"Well…" Lorelai cleared her throat. She was slightly embarrassed at the direction this conversation was taking. She could only hope that the latter was not the doctor's pick up line. She really was not in the mood for that.

"I hope this isn't getting too personal." She started babbling, "I really don't know you, even if I'm sure that you are a totally great person! I mean, obviously you care a lot about other people's health and stuff…"

While babbling, Lorelai noted that the doctor looked extremely confused at her speech. Slowly the puzzlement on his face gave place to an amused expression, and he interrupted her "I see how my question could be misinterpreted, Miss Gilmore. Let me rephrase it for you. The other doctors and I who take care of Mr. Danes noticed that your visits raise a reaction in our patient: his heart rate and blood pressure increase, his breathing gets faster and so does his pulse. At the beginning we didn't understand the reason for these changes in his parameters, but after a few days we noticed that they took place each day, always at the same hours of the day, which happen to be the hours you come visiting him."

They sat silently for a couple of seconds. Lorelai was apparently fascinated by some pattern on the edge of the desk, which she continued to follow with her right hand index, intently staring at it while trying to hide her blushing cheeks. She was two times embarrassed: first of all, for assuming that Doctor Sullivan asked her to follow him in his office just to ask her out. Secondly, she felt strangely warm inside from what he just told her. _Luke's heart beats faster when I'm around… _She couldn't stop thinking about it.

Seeing that Lorelai was not going to comment on this news and wanting to give her more information, Doctor Sullivan resumed. "This discovery implies really good news because it means that he can recognize your voice and that he can actually hear it, so we can deduce that his state is not too far from consciousness. We studied his reactions to other people's visits very closely and nothing more emerged. He really seems to react only to your voice. That's why I asked if you were his girlfriend."

Feeling her cheeks burning, Lorelai cast a glance over the doctor, to check if she unintentionally offended him assuming that he could be interested in her, in a very unprofessional way. Seeing no hurt in Doctor Sullivan's smiling face, she felt nonetheless the urge to apologize.

"Right. Listen, I'm really sorry for what I said before. I just didn't know what to think about you wanting to talk to me. Actually, I'm afraid I haven't been able to think straight since the night I knew about Luke's accident."

"It's OK, it doesn't matter." The doctor said smiling. "I understand that you are worried about your friend and my question just came out of the blue." Sensing that the air was now clear between them and that the woman sitting in front of him was ready to listen to all he had to say, he resumed.

"As Mr. Danes seems to be sensible to your presence, we think you could have the power to wake him up. Of course, patients in a coma are always a bit of a mystery, but I wanted to talk to you and ask you if you are willing to collaborate with me. I believe that you could be of great help with Mr. Danes' case."

Lorelai was astonished and perplexed. She never thought she could be used as a medical treatment, but she was quick to answer.

"Anytime. Just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it." She flipped her hair and slightly tilted her head to the right to adopt a better listening position.

He smiled again and said, "That's good. Thank you for your support. Today I just want you to touch him."

Lorelai's head snapped from her tilted position. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Nothing major. Just hold his hand, stroke his arm or his face, whatever you want. Anything will work for this step of our attempt. Just be sure you talk to him while you touch him. He has to know it's you, otherwise it will be useless. His sister is often touching him, but this led to no progress at all, so we want to be sure that he knows this time it's you and not his sister. Do you think you can do it?" he asked with a piercing gaze, noticing her evident initial discomfort to his request.

"Of course I can do it." Lorelai was relieved to know that what the doctor was asking her was not so far from what she usually did during her visits to Luke. "It's no problem at all." She paused and bit her lower lip, then said, "Do you really think this can be useful?"

Doctor Sullivan stood up before heading to the door and gesturing for Lorelai to follow him again.

"Well, of course we can't be sure about it, but we are trying to raise a bigger reaction out of him and we are starting from the only opening he lets us see," he once again held the door open for Lorelai, and added, looking squarely in her eyes, "Which is you."

She nodded sheepishly and murmured "OK", then they walked out of the office in the direction of Luke's room.

"If you don't mind, I'm coming in with you," the doctor said.

"Of course I don't mind." Lorelai answered.

They walked in silence until they reached Luke's room. Then Doctor Sullivan walked in, approaching the monitor behind Luke's bed, which was connected to the patient's body through needles and tubes. Lorelai hesitated in the doorframe, casting sidelong glances at Luke's unmoving figure on the bed and at a very intent Doctor Sullivan close to the monitor. She felt oddly shy having an audience to her usual nonstop chatter. Sensing her hesitation, the doctor turned to her and invited her in. "Don't bother about me. I won't listen to what you are saying. I'll just check his vitals here. Please, come on in."

Lorelai entered the room, a faint smile on her lips as she approached Luke. He was so quiet and still. He showed no emotions at all. Lorelai tried to recollect what the doctor had told her, and she marveled that any internal turmoil could be so perfectly hidden inside that motionless body. _And quite a nice body we have here! _She surprised herself at this thought. Luke was wearing only a short-sleeved hospital gown with a wide neckline, which was left untied on the back to allow easy access to the heart rate sensors attached to his upper body. From the waist down he was covered with a sheet and his right index finger was inserted into a finger sensor.

Lorelai carefully sat on Luke's bed on the opposite side from where the monitor and the doctor stood and whispered "Hey Luke!" She felt very self-conscious, probably due to the fact that Doctor Sullivan was going to scientifically assess the results of her silly one-way conversation. She looked at her hands currently abandoned in her lap, and saw them trembling.

_Great! If the mere thought of touching him makes my hands shake, what will I do at the end of this visit? Faint? Dissolve in a pool of sweat? Come on Gilmore, get a grip! It's Luke! _She took a deep breath._ You only have to talk to him, like you always do, and take his hand or something. It will be fine. You don't have to kiss him to his senses!_ She winced, then shot a glance to the doctor to check if, by any chance, he could read her inappropriate thoughts on that monitor.

The thought of kissing Luke, as quick as it was, sent a shiver through her already shaken body, and she shot another glance to the doctor to be sure that she was not embarrassing herself in front of him. The doctor chose that same moment to look at her, raising his eyebrows and gesturing with his right hand in an invitation to say something.

She cleared her throat and tried to steady her voice. "Doctor Sullivan here tells me that I can hold your hand. I hope you don't mind if I do. I know you're not much into PDAs, but desperate times call for desperate measures." She once again glanced towards the doctor, who was very intently studying the monitor and scribbling something on a folder. _Ok. Maybe he really isn't listening to the silly things I'm saying. That's good. Now let's get to the next step. _She took a couple of deep breaths to try to calm her pounding heart, then moved her right hand closer to Luke's left hand.

"OK, I'm gonna take your hand now, Luke. If you don't want me to, please shout, rant, punch me on the nose or something," she tried to joke in a further attempt to calm herself. She slightly raised her right hand and softly put it upon Luke's left hand. "Well, here we are. You didn't shout and my nose is not bleeding, so I take it you don't mind. That's good." She closed her fingers around Luke's motionless hand and started to lightly caress its back with her thumb. She marveled at how big, tanned and rough his hands looked compared to hers. Yet they also looked extremely vulnerable and trusting due to his current state. She was silently savoring this new intimacy, studying the texture of his hand and reminiscing about all the wonderful things that same hand was able to do, serving her coffee and food or helping her fixing things and furniture at her house, when she suddenly remembered that she was supposed to talk. The doctor had told her that she had to make sure he knew it was her and not Liz who was touching him. She now felt more relaxed, having successfully passed what she thought was the toughest part of her assignment, so she started to tell him about her work, the news of the town, Rory's school progress and all the simple little things she liked to tell him every day. Gradually she forgot about the doctor and regained her usual liveliness, laughing, teasing him and re-enacting some situations she was telling him about. She did that without ever interrupting the connection through their hands: she kept holding, caressing, lifting his hand and turning it to study its palm. She even squeezed it a few times, when she thought that she needed more emphasis to her tale. She was concentrated on his hand and on his face, hoping to catch any sign that showed that he really recognized her, as the doctor said, but she could see nothing.

She lost track of the time and of their location until she heard Doctor Sullivan saying, "Very well. We've got a quite strong involuntary reaction, but unfortunately that's still not enough. We'll have to work further on that."

The sudden eruption of the doctor's voice in the bubble Lorelai's chatter created around her and Luke made Lorelai jump. Without letting go of Luke's hand, she shifted her eyes from his friend to the apparently very satisfied doctor. _What the hell is he talking about?_ she thought, frowning.

After a few seconds, Doctor Sullivan realized that Lorelai had no idea what he was talking about.

"You really didn't notice anything?"

"I'm sorry. Should I have? He didn't move at all."

"Believe me, he did. But it's OK if you don't notice it. As I said before, it's a completely involuntary reaction to the combination of your voice and your touch together. This gives us hopes because he seems to be aware of these two factors, which are voice and touch. We just have to find the most effective way to get to him and wake him up."

Lorelai was puzzled. "You said that it's OK if I _don't_ notice. You mean that this reaction you are talking about is still visible?" Her hand was still holding Luke's and her thumb was now lazily caressing his palm.

Doctor Sullivan closed the folder he had been writing on and put his pen inside his coat pocket "I think that, as long as you keep touching him, it can only escalate. I don't know if you want to know the details, maybe you don't, but call me if you need anything. I'll be in my office."

Lorelai couldn't believe her ears. _What does it mean that maybe I don't want to know? I swear, this man is totally crazy. Of course I want to know._

"Wait a moment," she called. "Of course I want to know!"

The doctor had already opened the door and was going to exit the room, but stopped and turned at Lorelai's request. Then, he emphatically glanced towards Luke's body lying on the bed. Lorelai followed the doctor's gaze and violently blushed. A very noticeable bulge could be seen under the covers, at Luke's groin level. She immediately averted her eyes and started absent-mindedly to play with Luke's hands, causing his reaction to intensify, proving the doctor's previous forecast to be right.

"Oh, right." She mumbled, "Involuntary reaction. I get it now."

The doctor nodded. "If anything new happens, or if you need to talk to me, you know where to find me. If not, I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Gilmore."

"Yes, doctor. See you tomorrow," Lorelai managed to answer.

The doctor finally exited the room and Lorelai was left alone with Luke. She was still playing with his left hand: her right hand was holding it, while her left hand was running on his hand's back, between his fingers and up to his wrist. She was still feeling her cheeks burning and didn't dare to look at the part of Luke's body that was actually occupying her thoughts.

_Come on, I'm supposed to be a grown-up woman! And Luke is a red-blooded man, so his reaction is perfectly normal. No big deal at all. _She started giggling nervously._ Actually, from what I saw, it is indeed a huge deal! _She cleared her throat, trying to at least stop giggling like a horny teen-ager. _OK._ _He is not conscious, so he can't help it. That's all. It's exactly like… _she tried to think about some of Luke's characteristics that didn't make her feel unsettled._ His stubble! Yeah, his stubble doesn't stop growing and he can't shave in his status. I am not embarrassed by his stubble, am I? So why should I be embarrassed by this other perfectly natural process?_

She took another deep breath, which came out quite troubled and then remembered that she was supposed to talk to Luke. So, without stopping the movement of her hands, she looked at his face and exhaled.

"Hey!" The sight of his familiar features and of his strong stubble-covered jaw made her smile with affection and gave her the additional courage she needed to slowly shift her focus from his face to his Adam's apple. "So, here I was worrying that you may not want me to touch you and it turns out that you are really enjoying it!"

Her gaze shifted a little lower to his left shoulder, covered by the light hospital gown, down to his naked forearm, which she was now slowly caressing with her left hand, without allowing her right hand to let go of Luke's left hand. "Actually I like it too." She giggled again. "Who knew that you had such a beautiful skin? Very smooth. A little hairy, yes, but it's very soft hair, and I must admit that I love it on a man."

She wanted to shoot a glance to the very area that was causing her breathing issues, but couldn't bring herself to do so. Her eyes were almost watering in the attempt to remain fixed on his upper body. Never once stopping her chatter, her eyes started to slowly follow an imaginary line from his forearm up to his shoulder again, then slightly down to his chest. _How comes that I never noticed that Luke was so well built? It must be because of all that flannel he usually wears._

She sighed, shifting uncomfortably on the bed she was sitting on. "Hey Luke. Who knew that a hospital gown could be so sexy, huh? I bet the nurses fight all the time to be on duty in your room!"

Her gaze shifted a little downwards toward his stomach. "All that healthy food is really paying off, isn't it?" She took another deep breath, then she closed her eyes, sighing. _This is ridiculous. Just do it Lorelai!_

She opened her eyes again, this time staring directly at his groin area. She gave a fast glance and a loud gasp, absent-mindedly squeezing Luke's arm, then she shut her eyes closed again. The sight of his conspicuous erection, veiled only by the thin covers, made her feel both extremely turned on and embarrassed. _Oh. My. God,_ she panted. _I saw it twitching when I squeezed his arm! _For the first time since she sat on Luke's bed, she stopped touching him, trapping her shaking hands between her thighs.

_OK. Breathe in. Breathe out. That's good. Cool down. Breathe in. Breathe out. I have to go to the Inn before I go insane. _She slowly stood, feeling weak in the knees. _Another deep breath. Great. Now I turn towards the door and open my eyes. _Not facing Luke anymore, she felt a little safer. She opened her eyes and was relieved to see that no one was there to witness her own involuntary reaction to Luke's one. "Goodnight Luke. I'll see you tomorrow, sleepyhead!" she softly muttered. She then took her purse on the chair near Luke's bed and quickly exited the room to avoid any further temptation to look at his prone body.

She reached the parking lot almost running, this time totally unaware of the nurses she crossed on her way, then she opened her Jeep door and sat down, shutting the door closed, exhaling loudly and closing her eyes to try to recover in the peaceful refuge offered by the passenger compartment. But that proved to be an error: vivid images of Luke's body immediately sprung in her mind. She snapped her eyes open, feeling a warm, liquid sensation spreading from the very core of her body. _Oh come on! s_he thought, shaking her head in an attempt to clear the lustful fog that was enveloping her. _What's wrong with me?_

She knew she was already late, but she couldn't bring herself to go to work in these conditions. _I guess there's no time for a cold shower. And I'm pretty sure that a shower won't be enough to banish all dirty Luke thoughts from my mind until the end of the day. Gah! I can't believe I just put the words "dirty" and "Luke" in the same sentence! _She dry-washed her face with both hands, then finally started her car. _OK. I have to go to the Inn because otherwise I'll be late. That's perfect: maybe working can help me to focus on something different than Luke's amazing… _

_She_ shook her head and tried to collect her thoughts. _Let me see. I have to check the Bannister's reservations for next week and to ask them for a confirmation. Then I have to double check Sookie's menu for tonight's dinner, because lately she's been a little too creative and it cost the Inn a fortune. After that, I have to do inventory with Michel: soaps, shampoos, linen, bathrobes… mmmm… Luke in a bathrobe! I wonder whether he's a bathrobe or a towel kind of guy…With a chest like that, he must be breathtaking in a towel! _She stopped at a red light and shouted, "AARGH! Stop it!" A man who was crossing the street at the traffic light stopped with a jump, gaping at her with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry! I was not talking to you. I just had a very hard day," she called out to the terrified man. _Hard, yeah. You have no idea, buddy! _she smirked.

She reached the Inn in no time, paying no attention to the journey and driving in automatic mode. Her mind was still engorged with images of the hospital. She mentally traced a path starting from the hospital hall, going up with the elevator, along the almost endless corridor, ending at Luke's door, all the while feeling a growing tingle in her guts. Reluctant to enter the room, she finally gave in to her eagerness to recollect where he was lying, remembering exactly how his gorgeous body looked, with his strong frame, broad shoulders, smooth yet hairy forearm skin that covered hard muscles, his big hands.

_Yeah, big hands. I wonder how they feel on my skin. I bet they can also be delicate when touching a woman. Hard muscles to touch. Oh God! The shape of that bulge is forever branded in my mind! The difference in its size and angle from the first to the second time I dared to glance. Its distinct outline under the thin cover. And the twitching… _She swallowed hard, then was surprised to notice that she was already at the Inn parking lot. Another brief session of breathing in and out, then she exited the Jeep and entered the kitchen in a rush, with flushed cheeks, large pupils and hectic breathing.

"Hey Lorelai, where's the fire?" Sookie asked her friend, a spoon in her right hand and a mocking smile on her lips.

"Sookie!" Lorelai jumped, still breathless, running her hands through her dark locks and making her hair a ruffled mess.

Sookie giggled. "Of course it's me. I work here, don't you remember?" Getting no response from a very absent-minded Lorelai who was standing in the middle of the kitchen, a hand still buried in her thick hair at the top of her head and the other hand at her throat, Sookie asked worriedly, "Honey, what's up? Do you feel sick?"

Lorelai turned towards the coffee-maker. "Sort of. But I'll recover soon. Any coffee left? That will help me. Yeah, a good, hot, steamy…" then she froze, suddenly realizing what she just said.

Lorelai freezing while getting her beloved coffee was something Sookie was not going to let pass without further inquiries. "Honey, please talk to me. What's wrong? Is it Luke?" She put a hand on Lorelai's shoulder, a concerned expression on her face, presuming that maybe Lorelai's strange behavior was caused by something bad that had happened at the hospital.

"Why are you assuming it's Luke?" Lorelai quickly turned to face Sookie with wide eyes, astonished that her friend could read her mind.

"Well, you're just coming from the hospital, right? Didn't you go to see Luke after lunch, like you do every day? I thought that maybe that was the reason for your discomfort," Sookie reasoned, trying to soothe her friend.

"Oh Sookie! I wish I could tell you!" Lorelai said with sincerity, wringing her hands.

"But nothing is wrong with Luke, right?" the red headed chef asked anxiously.

Lorelai hesitated, took a shaking breath, then looked down and said sheepishly, "Right. Nothing wrong happened." She paused an instant "At least, nothing anybody else has to know about."

Sookie took Lorelai's left arm and guided her into the storeroom for some privacy. "OK. You are scaring me here. What is it?"

Lorelai followed her trotting on her high heels and giggling uncomfortably. "What are you doing? Holding me captive until I spit it out? I have to warn you that I can resist a long time in a storeroom - it's full of food!"

"Yeah, but no coffee!" Sookie stopped abruptly and closed the door after them "Now spit it out!"

"I can't! It's too embarrassing!"

"Oh come on, honey. I'm your best friend! What am I here for if we can't share our embarrassing moments?"

Lorelai glanced at her friend, unconvinced. "Right. But believe me Sookie, this is totally beyond embarrassing. If embarrassing was a cupcake, this would be a wedding cake. It would be the hugest wedding cake in the world. So big that it would make _me _feel sick only thinking about it. And you know how much I love cakes! The Queen of all wedding cakes! No, wait! A whole country made of wedding cakes, with wedding caked buildings, wedding caked vehicles, wedding caked streets… something to cause diabetes to anyone who dared getting close enough!" Lorelai was getting very caught up in her fantasy and was gesturing widely to her puzzled friend.

"Is _wedding caked_ even a word?" Sookie frowned.

"That's so not the point, dear!" Lorelai paused.

"Well, leaving alone all that wedding cake madness, I'm here to tell you that you can count on me. I won't tell anyone and I won't judge. I'm very good at this, you know?"

Lorelai softened her voice, with a sincere affection for her friend. "I know Sookie. You're a great friend! But I don't know if I can say this aloud. It's…"

"…embarrassing, I get it!" Sookie interjected, rolling her eyes. "Let me tell you this. Do you remember when I dated Colin? The one who lived in Litchfield?"

"Yeah, it didn't last too long, did it?" Lorelai answered, trying to understand what this had to do with anything.

"No. Of course it didn't last too long. Did you forget that I had to wax entirely for him because he liked me - and I'm quoting here - _as smooth as an inflatable doll_? Don't you remember that you had to help with the waxing process and that we made a mess in your bathroom, laughing like maniacs?"

Lorelai smiled at the memory. "Oh yes! I remember we told Rory that we were going to wax each other's legs and she heard us laughing all the time and couldn't understand what was so funny in having our legs hair pulled out!"

Sookie giggled. "Yeah. That was embarrassing! And do you remember when we followed that poor unsuspicious guy for an entire day, just because you thought he really looked like Bono, trying to find out what your favorite rock star was doing in Connecticut?"

"Hey! That was not embarrassing! He gave me his number and took me on a date the day after!" Lorelai said indignantly.

"Yeah, yeah, talking about being in denial…" They both burst into laughter. When they regained their composure, Sookie resumed. "You see? We already have a nice track record of embarrassing moments. What's one more added to the list? I saw your condition when you entered the kitchen earlier, so I know that this is not trivial. That's why I think that maybe talking to a friend would help you feel better."

Lorelai sighed. "I know. I would really love to talk about it, because I already feel like this is driving me crazy and there's no other person on earth I could share this with! I will try, but I can't promise you that I'll be able to tell you everything."

"OK. Just try. I'm listening." Sookie sat sideways on a pile of cartons lying on the floor of the store room, one foot swinging and the other on the floor, in a very attentive attitude.

Lorelai stood against the door, facing Sookie, with crossed ankles and arms folded over her chest. "OK. It's about... no wait. I feel… no, no, this isn't coming out right!" She frowned.

"Why don't you start from the beginning, honey?"

"Right. I went to the hospital, you were right about that. I met a doctor. Actually he was waiting for me outside Luke's door. He asked me if I wanted to collaborate with him. He told me I had to touch Luke's hand, or his arm, or his face… whatever," she shrugged, "while talking to him. The talking part was very important. I had to keep talking. That was also the easy part, you know I'm very good at the nonstop talking thing!" Sookie smiled encouragingly. "Anyway, that's just what I did: I talked and talked as I always do, about the usual stuff, you know? I didn't try anything funny, just the usual talkative me. And all the time I was holding his hand." She stopped and blinked, suddenly remembering the feeling of her hands on Luke's hand and forearm. She looked at Sookie with a desperate gaze. "I didn't anticipate it would happen. I didn't even notice it until the doctor showed me. I swear I didn't do it on purpose!" Her eyes were watering.

Sookie got up and took her friend in her arms. "Sssh. Calm down, honey. It's OK. I don't understand a thing here, but it seems that you did exactly what the doctor told you." Lorelai was sobbing now, holding her friend and feeling comforted by her soothing voice. "Was the doctor satisfied that you did what he asked you to do? What did he say?"

Lorelai snuffled, then dried her tears with her right hand and whined, "He said it was very good, but not good enough, and that we had to work further on that."

"Can't you see? You did very good, honey."

Lorelai took a step backwards to look her friend in the eyes, her own eyes still watery. "Do you think so?"

"Sure. Now sit down and start again, because I didn't understand a word. First of all, why did the doctor want you to do something like talking and touching at the same time?"

Lorelai and Sookie sat down, each on a pile of cartons, side by side, Lorelai's feet both on the floor while Sookie's, being shorter, one on the floor and the other dangling. Lorelai took a deep breath to steady her still trembling voice. "He said he noticed from Luke's vital signs that he reacted to my voice. So he wanted to use my help to get a bigger reaction from him."

"Oooh! That's so sweet!" Sookie joined her hands to her heart, with a dreamy expression. "Why did you think this could be embarrassing? It's not! It's awesome!" Then she eyed Lorelai with suspicion. "Why are you crying?"

Lorelai ran her hands through her hair, then sighed. "This is not the embarrassing part. The embarrassing part is me noticing an unmistakable bulge, then getting the hots for a comatose man with an involuntary reaction to some body stimulation!"

Sookie started giggling. "Yeah, that is pretty embarrassing!"

"Sookie! You are supposed to be supportive!" Lorelai exclaimed in aggravation.

"Right. Ahem. I'm sorry! I'll try to be serious." But she started giggling again. "Excuse me. I can't help it. Give me just a minute to recover!" Lorelai rolled her eyes at her. "Come on, you must admit that this is funny!"

"I admit nothing of the sort."

Noticing Lorelai's seriousness, Sookie stopped and turned slightly towards her friend, trying to meet her eyes "I'm serious now. I see that this is really bothering you. Why don't you tell me more?"

Lorelai sighed. "I don't know how to feel about this. I know that his reaction to me touching him is probably only a _mechanical_ reaction, as if I pushed a button to make his…_Lukey _spring to life!"

Sookie chuckled. "A dirty button! I wish I had something like that too!"

Lorelai gave her a dirty look. "I think we all have it, Sook, it's inherent to our feminine nature!" She looked downwards, to her left hand which was playing with a small ring on her right one "I'm not embarrassed because of his reaction: I think that it doesn't mean anything, even if Doctor Sullivan seemed to imply that Luke was specifically attracted by me - well, at least by my voice. But I can't help thinking that I shouldn't be witnessing it, you know. I feel like I'm peeping, not respecting his privacy and his dignity, as if I was taking advantage of his state to blatantly stare at his groin for my own dirty pleasure. It is not nice to feel like a rapist."

"Come on, Lorelai! You didn't rape him!" she paused. "Did you?"

"Sookie!" Lorelai screamed, irritated. "Of course I didn't! Who do you think I am? Some sort of sick and disgusting Almodovar character?"

"Right! Of course I don't think that about you! Go on."

"I can't stop thinking about him and lusting after him, but this makes me feel awfully guilty!"

"_You _lusting after _Luke_! That could be extremely good!"

"Yeah, if I don't lose my mind once and for all!" Lorelai skeptically said.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2 _

The following day, Lorelai was tempted to abstain from visiting Luke. She was really confused and emotionally shaken about these new strange facts, but Sookie convinced her that she had to go.

"Lorelai, don't be silly. You didn't do anything wrong. You did exactly what the doctor asked you to do. No one can blame you if you feel unsettled after what transpired. I'll tell you more: you _have to _go because Luke needs you. You agreed to collaborate with the doctors, so they probably studied Luke's reaction to this first experiment and now they are waiting to tell you what you have to do next. So, be a woman, suck it up and deal with it!"

That morning, to get prepared for her long day, she chose her attire and applied her make-up with extreme care _because I'm stupid, that's what I am! Luke is not going to see me. He will probably hear me, maybe feel me, but he won't see me. So, this is useless. But I can't help feeling like I'm going to a date. How twisted is this?_

"Mom!" Rory shouted at the bottom of the stairs. "Are you ready? We are running late! I'm gonna miss the bus!"

"Coming, honey! Just one sec!" she said while applying some more mascara.

"What's taking you so long?" Rory heard her mother opening the bathroom door and walking towards the stairs. "Finally!" she sniffed the air. "What did you do? Take a bath in your new perfume?"

"It's OK. It's gonna evaporate in a few minutes. I have to spray a huge quantity if I want it to last until this evening."

Rory frowned at her mother. "Why do you want it to last until this evening? Do you have a date later that I'm not aware of?"

Lorelai snorted. "No. I don't have any date. I just like to be neat when I'm at work."

"If you say so," Rory said skeptically. "Are you going to the hospital after lunch? I was thinking that maybe I could come with you today."

Lorelai started to panic. _Rory and an aroused Luke in the same room? Not going to happen!_ "Oh Rory, it's not necessary. I'm sure Luke would understand that you still don't feel like seeing him in this state. He's not even aware of who's in his room, you know. I'll call you if anything new happens and you'll be able to see him when he gets better."

Rory looked young and scared in her school uniform. Her big, innocent eyes showed hesitation, but also a little relief. "Are you sure that he wouldn't mind?"

"You know he wouldn't!" Lorelai circled her daughter's shoulders with her right arm lovingly, squeezing her a little.

"OK. But tell him that I miss him very much and I wish him all the best!"

"I will, dear. Don't worry. Go now. Your bus is just around the corner." She quickly kissed Rory's cheek, then watched her tiny silhouette running to catch her bus. _I'm so proud of her! At least there's something good in my messed-up life!_

Lorelai entered the hospital feeling both extremely excited and concerned about what would happen in Luke's room. _What if _that_ happens again? _She suddenly stopped in the middle of the hall, causing a man to almost collide with her._ What if it doesn't? Would I be disappointed? _She started walking again. _Well, I guess I have to be prepared to both occurrences. _She kept walking automatically, her mind lost in thoughts, unaware of her surroundings.

"Lorelai!" called the nurse at the information desk.

The loud voice startled her, and she turned to the source of the noise with wide eyes and a hand on her pounding heart. "Hey Sue! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Are you OK? I've been calling you since you entered the hall!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was thinking about…" Lorelai didn't exactly know how to end the sentence, so she just ended it there, gesturing vaguely.

"Right," the nurse slowly uttered with suspicion. "Doctor Sullivan told me to ask you to go to his office as soon as you arrived."

"OK. Thanks a lot. I'll go right now." Lorelai blushed, not daring to imagine - yet longing to know about - the new task that the doctor might want to assign her.

The nurse thought that maybe Doctor Sullivan could be the reason why Lorelai was so distracted that afternoon, and winked conspiratorially, then waved. "See you later, dear."

"Yeah, later Sue!" Lorelai managed to say, rapidly reaching the elevator. _Keep calm Lorelai, otherwise you won't be able to understand a single word the doctor will tell you. This is important. It's for Luke's sake, so focus and don't chicken out!_

She reached the door of Doctor Sullivan's office, took a couple of deep breaths. _Fine, now try not to hyperventilate._ Then she knocked.

"Come in!"

She opened the door slightly, peeking timidly inside the room. "May I?"

"Miss Gilmore, please, come on in! I was waiting for you!"

The doctor stood behind the desk, showing her the chair opposite for her to sit on. Lorelai sat as rigidly as she did the day before, not resting her back, her hands under her thighs. "I'm glad you came today, so that we'll be able to go on with our treatment."

For a short moment, Lorelai thought to point out that she came every day, but she decided against it. She was sure that the doctor noticed her blushing at the sight of Luke's bulge the day before, and she knew he was intelligent enough to understand that there might have been a short debate about whether or not to come back for another session.

"If you still want to help us, today I would like you to start touching our patient _before _talking to him. This would give us the proof by contradiction of the results we obtained yesterday. You'll have to take his hand, just like you did yesterday, without saying anything. I'll be in the room with you, checking his vitals on the monitor. When I tell you that you can speak, you'll have to start talking. You know, any scientific experiment needs to be repeated at least twice, otherwise we can't declare its results to be relevant."

"I don't understand: why don't you want me to talk to him from the beginning? If you need a proof by contradiction, shouldn't we do exactly what we did yesterday?" Lorelai argued.

"Good question." The doctor smiled "We want to make sure that the response he showed yesterday was not simply a mechanical reaction caused by the physical stimulation of your hands. Should he show no reaction to your touch _without _your voice, we'll be sure that this is not what triggers the changes in his vital signs. On the other hand, if he responds as strongly as yesterday to the addition of your voice to the touch, we'll have the proof we need to assess that his response is more emotional than merely physical. As I told you yesterday, this would mean that he's not far from consciousness and would give us more hope to wake him up with your help."

Something was haunting Lorelai. She forced herself to voice her worry, slightly blushing. "What if he recognizes my touch? I've been holding his hands for the good part of two hours yesterday."

The doctor paused to ponder her remark, "Mmm… another good question, Miss Gilmore! You should consider joining us in medical research!" he joked. "I think you should try something different today, something he can't recognize. Yesterday you held his hand, today you could stroke his hair, his arm, his face… whatever you want! Just try to do it differently." He smiled. "Do you need any more information? Is everything clear?"

"It's OK. I think I got it: no talk, just touch, unless you tell me I can speak, and do something different from yesterday."

"Perfect. Shall we go?"

"Let's go."

They both stood up and began to make their way towards Luke's room, the doctor always going first, holding the door for Lorelai in a very gentleman-like manner. When they reached Luke's door, the doctor put his index finger over his mouth, to remind Lorelai not to speak. She nodded, then they both entered the room.

Lorelai bit her lower lip, as a reminder of the fact that she shouldn't speak. Today, that seemed to be the hardest task to accomplish. She approached her usual side of Luke's bed, watching his motionless figure intently, then settled on the chair nearby. _This is different: yesterday I sat on the bed. _She shot a glance to the doctor, who nodded and smiled encouragingly. She remained pensive for a moment, then started rubbing her hand on Luke's covered leg, up and down, as if she wanted to warm him up in a cold room. _OK. This is totally innocent, very fraternal. _She went on for a while, frowning and thinking about her next move. _That's enough. His leg has to be red from all that rubbing! I have to find something else._ She thought about moving her hand to his thigh, but immediately discarded that idea _Definitely too dangerous! It's almost like going straight for the gold! _Instead, she patted his shoulder a couple of times, then started massaging it, grabbing it with her whole hand and applying some pressure to be sure that it didn't feel like a soft caress.

The room was completely silent, except for the monotonous noises of the medical equipment. Lorelai was very focused on what she was doing, still biting her lip to be sure that nothing exited her mouth. _God, he feels good even with this scratchy hospital gown on! I swear I could do this all day long! _

Time passed unnoticed, but she eventually heard the doctor clear his throat. She looked at him quizzically and saw him pointing his thumb up as a signal for her to start talking. She lowered her eyes, unable not to take a look at Luke's groin area, and noticed no reaction at all. Then she trapped his motionless hand between her two warm hands and whispered, "Hey Luke!" Out of the corner of her eyes, she thought she caught an almost imperceptible movement under the covers, but didn't allow herself to look in that direction again. "How are you today, burger boy?" she resumed in a more playful tone. "Rory says hello. She wanted to come with me today, but she's a little scared of seeing her big, strong, favorite diner owner being so vulnerable, so I told her you would understand. I'm sure you do. You always do," she said with affection.

The doctor cleared his throat again. She looked at him, her hands still holding and caressing Luke's left hand, trying to recall if she forgot to do or say anything.

"I think we've got our proof by contradiction, Miss Gilmore. I'll leave you alone now. I'll talk with my colleagues about these latest results and we'll let you know if there's anything more we think you can do. If anything else arises, please contact me in my office."

Lorelai simply nodded, too astonished to utter a single word. _How is it possible that just a couple of short sentences did the trick? _She waited for Doctor Sullivan to exit the door, then dared to look. She sucked in her breath, feeling her own blood surging in her ears. "There you are, again." She sighed, acknowledging the now familiar warm, liquid sensation at the very core of her body. "You know, Luke, this is really not fair. You are boldly showing off all your masculine glory, upsetting me, messing with my feelings and sensations and keeping me awake at night, and I can't do anything at all about it. Why don't you be a man and wake up once and for good? You should face up you responsibilities. It's your fault if I've been feeling dizzy for two days now." She could see that her voice added up to his response, making him throb and grow even beyond the size she remembered from the day before. She closed her eyes. "I can't do this, Luke. I can't pretend I'm ignoring your reaction, because clearly I'm not. And I can't deal with it either, unless you wake up and we deal with what we obviously feel for each other in the proper way." She paused, looking at their joined hands, then sighed again. "I think I'll go now. I'm so sorry, Luke. I wish I knew how to wake up your whole self, but unfortunately it seems that I'm only affecting the one part of your body that I'm not comfortable with." She then bent to softly kiss his forehead and slowly released his hand. She forced herself to stand up, instead of lying down next to him as she really craved to do, then she took her purse and slowly walked out of the room, fighting the urge to turn around to look at him.

A week passed. Lorelai had been going to the hospital every day, following her usual routine, but nothing new had transpired. Every day she entered the room, sitting on Luke's bed and holding his left hand, while lively talking to him about the regular Stars Hollow trivia. Every day she tried to stay the usual two hours she had decided to dedicate to her friend, struggling with her emotional and physical turmoil, for Luke's sake. Every day she tried - and miserably failed - to ignore his very evident and ever-growing arousal. Every day she searched for a new balance, but just didn't know how to soothe her shaken soul and her turned on body.

One day, ignoring Doctor Sullivan's prescriptions, she didn't touch him at all. She just sat on the nearby chair and talked to him for two hours, like she used to do before her first meeting with the doctor. Anyway, her trick proved to be useless: his "involuntary reaction" was there in its full force, more evident than ever for the mere reason that she didn't expect it at all. The fact deeply shocked her and lit a fire in her that could partially be brought under control only after a long ice-cold shower that caused her to be one hour late to the Inn.

At the end of that hellish week, Doctor Sullivan sent for her once again. When Lorelai entered his office, the doctor was not sitting in his usual position. This time he was resting against his desk, arms folded across his chest and head bent.

"Did you want to talk to me, Doctor Sullivan?" Lorelai asked him, taking in his body language and slightly worried that something was going wrong.

"Yes, Miss Gilmore." He paused, then looked up into her eyes without moving his head and said, "This is leading us nowhere."

Lorelai swallowed hard, not really understanding what he was talking about, then uttered in a small voice, "I'm sorry?"

The doctor sighed, then sat on the desk, feet dangling and hands under his thighs. "Please, have a seat."

Lorelai sat, feeling as uncomfortable as she always felt when sitting on that very chair, and waited for him to continue.

"I'll be very forthright, Miss Gilmore. I hope you don't mind." Lorelai simply nodded, not wanting to interrupt his speech. "In view of the very strong reaction Mr. Danes showed to your visits, seeing that such reaction didn't seem to decrease over time and that, if possible, it only seemed to escalate, my colleagues and I were waiting for his accumulated tension to find a… natural release." He waited a moment, to check if Lorelai was following his reasoning. She nodded again, this time more slowly. "We think that a sudden and strong feeling like that could wake him up. Of course we don't know that for sure, but as I told you, he seems very close to consciousness, so we have high hopes in that regard." Lorelai shifted uncomfortably on her chair, starting to understand what the doctor was aiming at, "Unfortunately, his body doesn't seem to be able to spontaneously find a release and we can't wait any longer. The longer he stays in a coma, the more damages he is subjected to." He paused again.

Lorelai was looking downwards, her heart thumping loudly in her chest._ I'm not going to make it easier for you, doctor. You'll have to say it._

Doctor Sullivan cleared his throat and resumed. "He needs your help to find his release, Miss Gilmore," he finally said.

Lorelai was shocked. _He actually said it! _she looked at him with wide eyes, still not uttering a word.

"I'm sorry. I told you I was going to be forthright. I don't know if this can be of any comfort to you, but I believe that the whole process shouldn't take too long. Actually, it should be really fast, if we consider the amount of daily built up tension. Nobody would be in the room with you two and you would have my permission to lock the room door."

Lorelai raised her hand to stop the doctor's speech. When he did, she asked in disbelief, "Are you really asking me to masturbate him?"

The doctor cleared his throat. "Well, not necessarily. I guess there's no need for me to give you all the details, but there are a few alternatives to masturbation, even a few different techniques for that same act. You just have to choose the one you think could be acceptable."

Lorelai was listening agape and was rapidly flying into a rage. "Fine. It's a pity I don't think this could be acceptable at all! Do you think it would be acceptable if he suddenly woke up with me holding his penis? I would never be able to look in his eyes again! Or, even worse, do you think it would be acceptable if I just did as you suggest and it proved to be useless? I would never be able to look at _myself _in a mirror again, knowing that I masturbated my best friend while he was in a coma, unknowing of what I was doing to him and unable to react in any way!"

During her outburst, her voice had remarkably increased. Thinking that this conversation had to remain private, Doctor Sullivan raised both his hands to ask for a truce. This made Lorelai suddenly aware of her voice volume, so she abruptly shut up, her eyes still flaming.

"I see your point, Miss Gilmore, but we are not talking about sex, here. You should see it as a form of alternative medication. I could ask a nurse to do the very same thing, but it's now proven that he only reacts to your presence." Lorelai looked at him in a silent inquiry. "Yes, we asked other women to talk to him while touching his body, but we obtained no results. As you see, I have no choice but to ask you. And that's what I'm doing. Of course, it's your prerogative to refuse to do it, but at the moment this is the only active treatment we can try. Otherwise, we can only wait and, as I already told you, waiting can be very dangerous at this point."

Lorelai pinched her lips tight together, trying to calm down before talking again, then she muttered under her breath. "This doesn't help the fact that I would feel like a rapist."

"You really shouldn't. You wouldn't do it for your own pleasure, but to help him out of the coma." They both stood silent, Lorelai feeling extremely humiliated and the doctor hoping that she could see his point of view. After a few moments, he asked. "What do you think about it?"

"I don't think I can do it, doctor," she answered in a low voice.

Doctor Sullivan nodded, then sighed. "OK. Just promise me that you will think about it. If you decide to do it, you don't even have to come here and tell me. Just enter the room and lock the door. I will see it locked and make sure that no one will disturb you."

"OK. I'll think about it." Lorelai answered, suddenly feeling exhausted. She stood up. "See you, Doctor Sullivan."

"Thank you for listening, Miss Gilmore. I wish I could make you see my point of view."

Lorelai stopped in front of him. "I can perfectly see your point of view, doctor. It's you who don't understand mine. You are a doctor and, when you look at my friend, you only see a patient: a broken mechanism that needs fixing. You have the ability to understand what should be done and the skills to do it. It's as simple as that. On the other hand, when I look at him, I see one of the most caring, and generous, and amazing persons I ever met. I don't know what should be done to make him be OK again, but I'm sure that I don't want to disrespect him or to make him feel humiliated. I can't help feeling in this way because I really care about him."

"If you really do, then you should consider what I told you. It could save his life."

"Of course I will consider it. I'm not totally irresponsible. You see: it's not simple at all." She smiled sadly, then nodded her goodbye and exited the room.

The doctor smiled as well, knowing that he just planted a good seed.

That night, Lorelai had been unable to sleep consecutively for more than half an hour. She went to the Inn all the same, trying to cover with makeup the signs of her sleepless night, but she was of no use. Michel wanted her to go back home, thinking that she was sick and afraid that she could pass him whatever she had, but she didn't want to be left alone with her thoughts, so she just stayed at the Inn, hanging around and dragging her dazed self from the kitchen to the desk.

Sookie was really worried, but didn't dare to ask her what was wrong. She thought that maybe Lorelai was starting to realize how serious Luke's conditions were, and she was respectfully waiting for her friend to be ready to talk about whatever was troubling her. Every time she saw Lorelai with that thousand-yard stare, she kept herself from asking what was wrong, thinking that asking would be useless, as long as Lorelai was so lost in her thoughts.

Finally, lunch time was over and it was time for Lorelai to go to the hospital. _OK, come on. Let's dive in!_ She reached her Jeep and drove to the hospital with a resolute expression, having decided how to face her dilemma. _I just hope it will work, because that's the only idea I got since I left Doctor Sullivan's office yesterday. If it doesn't work, I will have to reconsider what the doctor said, and I would really like to avoid that._

She parked her Jeep in the parking lot, took her purse, exited her car, entered the building, then crossed the hospital hall with long strides, now almost impatient to try her own way of helping Luke.

"Hey Lorelai," Sue called in a worried tone. "You don't look at your best today. Do you feel sick?"

"Everything's OK, Sue. Just had a rough night." she answered without stopping.

"You should ask Doctor Sullivan to have a look at you," the nurse suggested with a mischievous smirk.

"Maybe," Lorelai answered, the innuendo just lost on her.

When she heard the usual ting of the elevator announcing the desired floor, she took a deep breath to regroup. _Here we are. Fingers crossed. She _then started walking again in Luke's room direction. _No room for second thoughts, Lorelai. The wheels are in motion._

She entered the room and locked the door behind her, then leaned against the door, knowing that she couldn't back out now: everyone in the ward would know from the locked door that she was inside, trying to wake Luke up.

"Hey Luke," she said softly. "Just you and me, today. I hope you don't mind."

She took in his peaceful appearance, his long legs visible under the covers, strong naked forearms, broad shoulders and chest, and his familiar face: long delicate nose, strong masculine jaw and chin, delicate ears and ridiculously long eyelashes.

"God, you are beautiful! I know I'm not supposed to say that about a man, but believe me: you are!"

She slowly approached his bed, never averting her eyes from his face, then sat on her usual spot on the bed. She remained motionless a few minutes, letting his beloved features calm her thumping heart. She slowly bent very close to his left ear, and she tried to find a comfortable position, half-lying on her right side, her long legs bent under her, her head resting on her hand. Her left hand was gently caressing his face, his neck, his collarbone, then going up again to feel his cheek and his temple to finally run through his hair over and over again.

With her mouth still very close to his left ear, she started to sensuously whisper. "Doctor Sullivan told me that you are not behaving the way you should. You're being stubborn, in a very Luke-like way." She smiled fondly, still studying his features, her hand now cupping his right cheek, her thumb lightly tracing small circles on his stubble. "You've been a very bad boy, Luke. Bad, bad boy. I should smack you, you know," she sighed. "I should, but I'm not going to. I'll tell you what I want to do: I want to make you come without even touching you below the belt." She softly groaned. "Not that what I see below your belt wouldn't be nice to touch, but I just don't want you to wake up to such a sight: me playing unauthorized games with your most private parts." She was slightly panting at the sole contemplation of that kind of forbidden games. "Am I the only one who's already turned on?" she asked, her voice only a husky whisper and her hot breath washing the left side of Luke's neck and face. She raised her head a little bit, just to check if he seemed to be enjoying her new intimate tone and her increased proximity. She smirked, then got even closer to his cheek. "Oh yeah! I see you are pleased, just like I am, buddy! I guess that, if you can feel my touch, then you can probably feel my breath too. Does it turn you on? What about my voice? Do you prefer it as cheerful as usual or low and sexy like now?"

Her hand started to travel from his cheek slowly down his neck. She savored the different tactile sensations from the face stubble to his smooth neck, down to his collarbone, where his soft chest hair emerged from the gown neckline. "I know that you can hear my voice and you can feel my touch." She cupped his clothed right pec, rubbing his nipple with her thumb until she felt it pointed into the fleshy part of her fingertip, "but I don't know if you understand what I'm saying." She lightly pinched his nipple between her fingernails, then squeezed the nipple and flesh. "I'm gonna be honest: I hope that when you wake up - _if_ I'll be able to wake you up - you won't remember anything about this evening or about what I'm gonna tell you here, on your bed. But now, I have to tell you how I feel. You know that talking is my thing, but I never tried this before. You, my friend, are going to be the first man I will masturbate with my voice only. And to give this performance a chance of success, I need to make you feel how much you turn me on, with my voice and with my touch."

She positioned her hand at the center of his chest, feeling the furious thumping of his heart under her palm, then started to slowly splay and close her fingers, flattening her palm over his chest when her fingers were splayed and slightly cupping her hand when the fingers where closed, never stopping the movement, sensuously and fluidly alternating fingertips with palm massages.

She was now ready to shift her gaze from his face to his lower body. What she saw made her groan in his ear. "My God, Luke! I swear I'd really love to throw all my scruples down into the sewer and take proper care of this magnificent soldier of yours! But you know me, I have a screw loose! And I don't think I could live with myself if I did that to you!" She shifted a little further from his body, so that her head was positioned at an angle that allowed her to both be very close to his face and watch his groin intently, never stopping her hand movements. "You know, it doesn't have to be like that forever. If you wake up, we'll be able to be together for real. But I need your help here, Luke. As much as I love watching you unnoticed, I don't feel right if you don't actively participate." She took a deep, shaking breath. She knew she couldn't be too sentimental. She had to be sexy for him, otherwise it wouldn't be different from any other afternoon they spent together in that same hospital room. She needed to make a difference. She needed to give him pure sex. And she had to do it with her voice only. The only way to do it was to get so excited herself that he could feel it through her voice and gasps and moans.

"I wonder if you know how gorgeous you are. I'm watching you, Luke. I see the effects of my proximity on your body and I can't help feeling just the same for you. Can you smell me? I don't think I've ever been so wet. I must tell you: it's a torture to abstain from climbing on your body and let your mouth-watering shaft fill me up!" She saw his erection bob under the covers and that elicited a deep moan in her throat. "You are killing me here, Luke," she half-panted, half-whispered in his ear.

She started to lightly run her nails on his forearm, careful not to leave any visible mark. "Please, let go. I see and I know that you want it too. If you wake up, I promise we'll do even better than this!" His throbbing hardness had grown to lie flat on his stomach, its head now clearly visible and peeping out of the thin cover, only veiled by the almost transparent gown. Lorelai's breathing was labored. "This talking thing is going to be harder than what I thought," she said, now heavily panting. Her hand flew to his chest again, to feel his heart beat. "That's beating really fast Luke! I don't want to give you a heart attack before you manage to come!" She saw his shaft twitching in response to her hoarse voice. "Come on Luke! Let go. I need you here with me." She was now massaging his shoulder, trying to find some satisfaction in grabbing a more meaty part of his anatomy, to keep her hands from grabbing something lower. She slowly moved her left leg over the right one increasing its angle, craving for some friction in the lower part of her body and hoping that a slight movement of her joined thighs could help her find some relief, but not daring to explicitly touch herself in front of her friend. Then she gasped loudly, her wide eyes fixed on his still-twitching erection, a small wet stain on its head. "Come on! You must be so close! I can't wait any longer!" She held her breath, seeing that his shaft was now still and hoping that this stillness was preceding the final release. "Don't be shy. We've been through all this together, don't leave me alone!" She noticed that nothing new was happening under the covers, so she stopped her shoulder massage, shifting her hand on his heart again. "Good. You didn't have a heart attack!" she sighed in relief. "So I guess the doctor was right: your body seems incapable of a spontaneous release! This is not very flattering for my sexy-talking capabilities."

She had a look around the room, then spotted her favorite scarf lying on the chair. She had put it there earlier because she knew she would be too hot to enjoy wearing a scarf. "I think I have an idea," she whispered huskily in Luke's ear, then removed her hand from Luke's chest and grabbed her scarf. She repositioned her body so that she was now sitting on the edge of the bed, at Luke's knee level, facing his hardness. "Wow! Even more mouth-watering from this perspective! I didn't think that was possible!" She lowered the covers a little bit, only as far as she needed to completely uncover his shaft, which was still clothed in the hospital gown. She grabbed her scarf with both hands at shoulder width, then put her hands near Luke's hips, so that the scarf was caressing his shaft, stretching it only as far as she thought necessary not to make it too stiff to be enjoyable. "I hope this will help you out Luke. I know it may look sort of kinky, but it's exactly the opposite of that. Maybe it's only a technicality, but it doesn't require my hands on your flesh, it doesn't require your lower body to be naked and it will save both of us from being highly embarrassed if you wake up in the middle of the fun." She paused, took another shaking breath, then whispered with a mischievous smirk, "Ready?"

She started moving her hands upwards, thereby causing the scarf to stroke his straining arousal, from the base to the tip. When she reached the tip, she started moving the stretched scarf from one side to the other of Luke's body, stimulating the most sensitive skin just below its head. His shaft was trapped between his stomach and her scarf, now furiously bobbing, but unable to escape from the triple stimulation of his own stomach skin, the roughness of the hospital gown and the soft movements provided by Lorelai's scarf. "Good boy. I see you're enjoying this. I'm enjoying it too!" She slowly moved her scarf downwards, stretching it a little more to provide more pressure on his shaft. That was it. She saw him twitching violently, then she saw a first hard spurt rising up his torso and drawing a straight wet line which immediately soaked his gown. She quickly removed her scarf in a single fast movement, providing a last, sharp caress which she imagined added a hint of pain to his pleasure. The scarf had just reached her lap when she saw Luke spring to a sitting position, his body still shaking from the remaining spurts of his violent and long held release, exhaling a loud "Ha!" and bringing both his hands to his lower abdomen.

She threw her arms around his neck and held him tight, not wanting to give him the time to fully realize what just happened to him, and wanting to avoid any embarrassment to both of them. "You're back! I can't believe it! You are finally back!" She took his face in both her hands and fixed her watery gaze in his finally open blue eyes. "I'm so happy that you are back! How do you feel?"

He was still heavily panting. "I can't breathe," he paused and tried to swallow. "What happened?"

Lorelai hold him tight once again, happy to feel him in her arms and relieved that he apparently didn't remember their verbal love-making, then she relaxed her grip and told him, "Wait here, marathon runner. I'm gonna call your doctor. He's gonna take care of your breathing pattern!" She smiled at him and he simply nodded, still fighting to control his breath.

Lorelai flew to the door flinging it open and ran out of the room, stopping abruptly in front of Doctor Sullivan, who was leaning against the opposite wall, waiting for her. She gave him a big, bright smile and said, "He's awake!"

"I knew you could do it!" Doctor Sullivan smiled back at her.

He then made for Luke's room, but Lorelai grabbed his arm to stop him and whispered with pleading eyes, "Please, don't tell him about me. Don't tell him about…_all that_!"

"I won't tell him. But I don't want to lie to him either. Let's hope he won't ask too many questions."

Lorelai nodded and let the doctor enter the room to take care of his patient. Then she collapsed onto the floor, her back resting against the wall, trying to take in the enormity of what just happened, the enormity of what she did, and the enormity of her mixed-up feelings.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

Lorelai entered the Inn's kitchen heading directly towards the coffee-maker, nicely dressed, coiffed and with makeup on. She stopped in front of the coffee-maker, stared straight ahead for the better part of five minutes, then started pouring the coffee directly on the counter, without shifting her gaze from an unidentified point in the space.

"Lorelai, stop it!" Sookie called, running to her friend with a dishcloth in her hands, ready to dry the pool of coffee before it reached the floor making it dangerously slippery. "What's wrong with you today?"

The loud chef's voice made Lorelai jump and suddenly realize the mess she was doing. "Gah! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, immediately stopping and taking a step backwards.

Sookie started wiping the counter, giving her an evil look. "Could you please stop that?"

Lorelai frowned, "What do you mean? I already stopped!"

Sookie left the dishcloth on the counter and put her hands on her hips, gazing at her friend. "I'm not talking about the coffee! I'm talking about that stupid thing you always do when you are worried about something: you stand here like a lump, then you do something totally idiotic, then I ask you what's up and you say _I'm fine, really!_" Sookie made her best impersonation of a round-eyed, squeaky-voiced Lorelai, with a hand on her heart. "Then I say _Come on, tell me what's up_, and you go on with the _I'm fine, really!_" round eyes and squeaky voice again, "over and over again until I lose my temper and you spit it out. You know what? I've got sick of all this comedy, so please, don't try to fool me because I know you too well, Missy! Spare us a lot of time and just skip to the last page!"

Lorelai was highly amused by her friend's rant, a small smile curving the corners of her mouth. "Is that all?"

Having made her speech almost without stopping for taking a breath, Sookie was now lightly panting, an index pointed towards Lorelai. "Yeah. I mean, unless you want to deny that something is bothering you!" She looked at her suspiciously. "Do you?"

Lorelai giggled. "I wouldn't dare, Sook! Not with all those knives within your reach!"

Sookie started giggling too. "Ok. Maybe that was just a little over the top, wasn't it?"

Both girls were giggling now. "Maybe just a little." After a brief moment of companionable laughter, Lorelai sighed, suddenly serious again. "But you were right: something is bothering me!"

Sookie snapped her fingers exclaiming, "HA! I knew it!" then she lowered her voice in a sympathetic tone, "Is it Rory?"

"No. Why would you think it is Rory? Rory's just fine!"

"Well, that's a relief! So, is it your mother?" Sookie asked pensively.

"No. For once in my life, my mother is behaving."

At that same moment, Michel entered the kitchen with his haughty pace. The girls pretended to ignore his presence and Sookie resumed, "Is it Michel?"

"No! For God's sake: who cares about Michel?"

"I have no idea, honey. That's one of the mysteries of existence!"

Michel grabbed a cup of coffee, then headed towards the door, slowly and oddly pronouncing his words with an impassible expression. "Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny indeed. You should apply to the Comédie Française!" then he exited the kitchen without even turning his head to their direction.

The two friends busted into laughter again. "Too easy! It was like pistol-whipping a blind kid." Lorelai said, trying to stop laughing.

"Well, so what is it?" Sookie asked, wiping her eyes, a quivering smile still on her lips.

"What do you mean?"

"Why, not this again!" the chef busted, her cheerfulness suddenly gone.

"Hey, sorry! I just got distracted from Michel. I didn't want to avoid the subject!" Lorelai showed her hands in a gesture of surrender.

"You better not!" Sookie frowned. "So, who is it? It can't be Luke, he's great!"

That caught Lorelai's attention. "How do you know he is great?"

"Well, I saw him yesterday!" Sookie said, surprised by her friend's question.

"Where?"

"At the diner, of course!"

"Why where you at the diner? When? Wait a moment: are you saying that he was actually working at the diner?"

Sookie was taken aback by all these questions about such a trivial subject. "Yeah, he was working at the diner, like he's been doing every day since he came home from the hospital. Why is it such a big deal? Did you forget he runs a diner?"

Lorelai sighed. "I didn't forget it. It's just that whenever I go there he's nowhere to be found: he's cooking, he's running errands, he's upstairs, he's on the phone with a supplier… He's anywhere but at the diner!"

"That's funny! Maybe you chose the wrong moments of the day! Yesterday I've been there, taking a coffee and chatting with my school mate Maggie for about an hour and a half, and he's been there all the time, taking orders, serving customers, sorting his receipts, refilling coffees… The usual grumpy, ruggedly handsome Luke. It gave me the illusion that nothing had ever happened to him."

"Really?" Lorelai was shocked. "It's worse than what I thought!"

"No! I told you! It's not bad at all! He's just fine, Lorelai! Now, why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes at her oblivious friend "_Luke_ is bothering me, Sookie! I think that he's avoiding me. As soon as I enter the diner he disappears. Just the time to say _Hey Luke_, and he's gone."

"Are you sure?" Sookie frowned. "That doesn't sound like Luke."

"I know!" They both remained silent for a couple of minutes, then Lorelai added under her breath, "I'm terrified the doctor could have told him something."

Sookie looked at her with wide eyes. "You mean…?" Lorelai had told Sookie a G-rated version of what she did to help Luke out of his coma, a version which only included a sexy-talking Lorelai, without any mention of scarves or any details about Luke's reactions or body parts. Just the general terms to make Sookie understand the main facts and Lorelai's messy feelings towards the local diner owner.

"Yeah. I also noticed that he changed the way he's wearing his shirts. Do you remember? He used to wear his flannel shirts open on a T-shirt and he tucked the order pad in his waistband."

"Yes, I do remember." Sookie giggled. "Every time he took the pad, Miss Patty used to drool over it and to make silly jokes about helping him with his orders. Why do you ask? He's still wearing flannels, jeans and backward baseball cap. Nothing's changed there."

"Well, given the short amount of time I spent in his company, I can't be sure about it, but every time I saw him he was wearing a buttoned up flannel, as if he wanted to cover_ himself_, if you understand what I mean," Lorelai said, glancing meaningfully in Sookie's direction. Sookie started nodding furiously. "As if he wanted to conceal that specific part of his body from me."

At that last assertion, Sookie stopped nodding. "Oh, come on, Lorelai, this is just stupid! First of all, it's not such a big change. Maybe it doesn't mean anything. Maybe he just put on a belly and he doesn't want to show it. Secondly, I know that this might be shocking for you, but you are not his only customer, so you don't know if his changes are made explicitly for you. Maybe he just got sick of being Miss Patty's eye candy."

Lorelai blinked rapidly, her lips starting to tremble. "I'm so scared, Sookie! I don't want to lose him. Not now that he's back! Not before even trying to take a chance on us."

Sookie hugged her. "Sssh. Oh honey, you are not going to lose him. That's impossible! You know Luke cares a lot about you."

"Yeah, that was before I did _that_. Now he's just embarrassed to be around me." Lorelai stepped out of Sookie's hug to look her friend in the eyes. "One thing is especially bothering me. You know, and I know, that I didn't touch him that day. But the doctor doesn't know it. I didn't give him any details. He just saw the results. What if he told Luke that I really… you know… _touched_ him to awaken him?"

"Lorelai, you don't know for sure what the doctor told him. He promised you he wouldn't tell him, unless forced by his questions. Why don't you go to the diner later and talk to Luke?"

"Yeah. To give him the opportunity to run away from me one more time!" Lorelai said, in a small voice.

"Don't let him! Hey. What happened to the Lorelai I used to know?"

"She's a slut. I don't like her anymore. With her dirty deeds she ruined my friendship with Luke just when I realized how important he was for me!" Lorelai pouted.

"Don't be silly. If it wasn't for her - well, for _you_ \- Luke wouldn't even be at the diner, with or without shirts!"

Lorelai smirked. "A shirtless Luke in the middle of the diner! That would be quite a sight!"

"Yeah, if that happens, be sure to give me a call. I don't want to miss it either!" Sookie smirked as well, happy to help Lorelai's mood to improve.

Luke was cooking in the diner kitchen, in his usual flannel-jeans-cap uniform, with the addition of an apron. He was mumbling to himself, while flipping hamburgers and keeping an eye on the deep fryer. Having his hands occupied always helped him to focus, so he thought he could hide in the kitchen for a while and try to figure out what was going on. Maybe cooking could help him reflect about the strange reactions his body was having since he came back from the hospital.

Luke had always been a red-blooded man: it was evident in his short temper, in the long rants he sometimes needed to utter just to lower his blood pressure a little, like a tea pot which needed the steam to escape to avoid exploding from the excessive heat. But when it came to sexual urges, he knew how to control himself. He had perfected that art during the long frustrating years from his teens to his adulthood. Not that finding a girl had ever been a problem for him, but he had never been the guy to go with a girl only to satisfy his physical needs. He was a romantic, monogamous, yet passionate kind of guy. Or, as Rory liked to call him, a big softie. Being such a man of principles often meant that he was left with unsatisfied sexual desires, but he proudly considered himself perfectly able to hold back. That is, until now.

Though apparently completely recovered from his horrible accident, Luke was plagued by frequent and persistent erections throughout the day. This new and unusual situation determined the change in his attire that bothered Lorelai so much and was the reason why in those days he preferred to hide in the kitchen rather than serving his customers and making small talk with them. He didn't hide there all the time because he didn't want to arouse suspicion: suspicion could lead to questions and he just didn't want to deal with questions at the moment. He wanted all the other inhabitants of Stars Hollow to think that everything was perfectly normal with him, even if he knew that it was not entirely true.

That day had proven to be quite a good one until then: it was now lunch time and he only had one "incident" during the second breakfast rush, which forced him to shut himself up in the storeroom. He had his baggy flannel shirt on, so he knew there was no actual danger of being caught, but still he didn't feel comfortable to chat and serve his customers while a big part of his blood had rushed to the center of his body, leaving him unable to focus and react properly.

He was sadly aware that, because of this problem, he hadn't been able to talk to Lorelai for several days - including that same morning - but he didn't want to be around her in these conditions. Of course during all the years he and Lorelai had known each other it already happened that he got a little aroused when flirting and bantering with her, or when she was wearing something too revealing, but this was different: it was not the first hint of a surging excitement, which could be easily dismissed just focusing on something else. It was a sudden, strong and sometimes painful erection that didn't seem to be provoked by anything in particular. One minute he was perfectly calm and relaxed, the next he was rock-hard and in total discomfort. He had learned that the fastest way to get rid of the embarrassing bulge in his pants was to apply a bag of ice to his crotch, but it was not very pleasing and not always doable. He had also learned that wearing his usual combination of boxers and tight jeans was a very bad idea: the one time he tried it, he ended up with a very noticeable and painful erection running down his right inner thigh, having stuck out of his boxers leg hole and being trapped in his tight jeans at a very unnatural and uncomfortable angle. He knew it was running too low to be covered by his shirt's lower hem, so he had to cover it with his order pad trying not to look too goofy, and he had to walk very slowly to avoid any additional friction to his already over-stimulated shaft. After that unforgettable episode, which left him sore and humiliated, he opted to wear two pairs of sport jockstraps and large jeans. Still uncomfortable, but slightly less painful. At least it guaranteed that any hardness would be correctly supported and wouldn't grow at an angle that would make it too visible.

At last Luke had reached a decision. _There's no other solution: I have to make an appointment with Doctor Sullivan and tell him about all this crap. Clearly I'm not able to solve this problem on my own. Something must have short-circuited in my head when I was in coma. I don't know what else to think about it!_

"Hey boss, talking to yourself again?" Caesar called, startling him. He was the only one who noticed that Luke was even grumpier than usual, but was too wise to question him about it. "Lorelai's order up!" he said, handing him a note.

"Lorelai's here?" Luke asked surprised. "I haven't heard her entering."

"Yeah. She doesn't look as bright as usual. She's quite low-spirited." Caesar answered in a low voice, while taking a plate of fries to deliver.

"Oh. Do you mind taking care of the kitchen, Caesar? I will go check on her."

"Sure thing boss." He put the plate back on the counter.

"Thanks. All orders are almost ready, except for Lorelai's of course." Luke said, taking his apron off and handing it to Caesar.

"OK. I'll give it a start right away. I think she'll be glad to see you: she already asked where you were."

Luke took the fries plate Caesar just put on the counter "Who is this for?" he asked.

"Andrew. Near the window."

"Fine." Luke exited the kitchen, fries plate in his right hand, and he immediately spotted Lorelai sitting at the counter, head bent, her hair creating a thick curtain which partially shielded her beautiful face, apparently absorbed into stirring her coffee. "Hey," he smiled when he passed near her to deliver the plate to Andrew.

She raised her head and smiled back to him, surprised to see him intentionally coming out of his hole and watching him all the time while he bent to put the plate on Andrew's table, greeting the bookstore owner, and asking him if he needed anything else. _Mmmm, contrary to what is usually the case, his B-side is as enjoyable as his A-side! _She immediately blushed, shocked by her own thoughts, and feigned a renewed interest in her cup of coffee, furiously stirring the splashing dark liquid.

"Hey, stop it. You're going to make a mess on the counter!" Luke chuckled, putting a hand over her wrist to effectively stop her frantic movement. She immediately stopped, a small smile gracing her lips, head still bent, and eyes closed to fully enjoy that huge change from their old hospital routine: his big hand now lightly touching hers, instead of the other way round.

"Lorelai? Are you OK?" Luke asked, concerned, stepping closer to her stool, his hand still on her wrist in what was now meant to be a comforting gesture, instead of a stopping one. She quickly nodded, afraid that she would start crying like a baby, embarrassing herself in front of half of Stars Hollow inhabitants if she only tried to utter a word. _Apparently I was delusional. Here he is again. My caring Luke, worrying about me. So sweet! _

Luke dropped her wrist and moved behind the counter to grab a cloth and wipe the coffee that has spilled out of her mug. "You seem pre-occupied." He lifted her mug, then started wiping the counter with long, determined movements of his arm.

She was now staring at his rippling hands and forearms tendons and muscles, partially left uncovered by his rolled-up shirt sleeves, and she marveled at how good they looked, how good _he _looked when doing such a simple movement. _He moves so fine! I can't believe I never noticed how amazingly beautiful is a man that is able to move freely! I guess it's true what they say: you don't know what you've got until you start to lose it! I'm so happy I got to see Luke moving again!_

Having finished his task of wiping the counter, Luke put her mug back in front of her. "Here you are. Do you want a refill?"

She smiled. "Not yet. There's still plenty of it to spill on the counter. I will ask for a refill when I won't have any more liquid to soil your diner with."

He suddenly felt a familiar sensation in his lower abdomen. _For God's sake! Not this again!_ He clung to the counter, his knuckles white, taking a sharp intake of breath and bracing himself for what he knew was coming.

"Are _you _OK, Luke?" Lorelai frowned, having noticed the change in his attitude.

"Yeah," Luke managed to say through his clenched teeth. He took a deep breath to try to cool down enough and added, "I just remembered I have to go to the storeroom. If you need anything, call Caesar."

Lorelai was looking at his retreating figure in complete shock. _What the hell was that? He just remembered that he didn't want to talk to me, that's what he meant! I can't believe it: everything seemed back to normal and now he's avoiding me again? That's enough! I won't let him do it this time! _

She slid off the stool, a determined look in her eyes, then reached the storeroom door in a few long strides. She peeped inside and saw Luke, bent over what looked like a hip-high freezer, furiously rummaging and mumbling, "Where the hell is it? I can't believe I finished all the ice! Am I totally stupid, on top of that?"

She entered the room and closed the door. The unexpected noise startled him and he quickly snapped his head up, eyes wide open. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, his voice cracked and his chest raising up and down heavily.

"We need to talk, Luke," Lorelai said, ignoring his panicked look.

"Not now. Too busy!" He grumbled, trying to control his panting and starting to rummage in the fridge again, even if he already knew that he was not going to find what he needed. _Moreover, any ice would be just useless now: I can't put a bag of ice on my groin in front of Lorelai. I've still got some pride left!_

"That's unbelievable!" Lorelai muttered. She then moved closer to Luke, on the opposite site of the freezer, her hands resting on its edge. "Luke, stop it. I'm not letting you do this again, so stop it."

"Do what?" he asked, still pretending to fiercely look for something into the appliance.

"You know what," she said, not wanting to voice her humiliation.

Luke closed his eyes and took another deep breath, his heart thumping in his chest, his blood roaring in his ears and the muscles of his groin getting tighter and tighter in his jockstraps. With the growing of his erection, he felt the head of his shaft painfully yet tantalizingly rubbing against the stiff material and he was _experiencing_ _a big problem with consistency and focus._

"Luke?" Lorelai called after a too long moment of silence. "Are you going to say anything?"

"I can't do it," Luke exhaled. He put his hands on the freezer edge opposite to the edge where Lorelai's hands where resting, then unconsciously pressed his swollen and aching limb against his hands and softly moaned. He snapped his eyes open, suddenly very conscious of Lorelai's presence and of his increasingly uncomfortable situation. "Watch your hands," he coarsely instructed, barely giving her the time to remove her hands before closing the freezer door.

"Luke!" Lorelai squeaked "I'd really like to keep all my ten fingers, you know! I wouldn't be happy to leave some of them inside your freezer!"

Eventually she noticed that Luke was not talking. He was not ranting against her presence in the storeroom. He was not flying somewhere else to run from her. He was there, in front of her, apparently staring intently at his feet, breathing heavily, hands balled into fists by his sides. "Are you mad at me?" she asked in a small voice. He shook his head, not daring to speak. "Will you talk to me?" she asked tentatively.

He shot her a desperate glance, resumed staring at his feet, cleared his throat, then muttered, "Not now. I'll call you later."

Now she was getting worried. "Are you sure you're OK?"

Luke simply nodded, not trusting his voice and trying unsuccessfully to master his breath.

"Luke?" Lorelai couldn't bring herself to leave him there in evident distress. "Do you need help?"

He shook his head.

"Is there anything I can do?"

He shook his head again.

"Luke?" she reached for his arm.

At her soft touch, Luke felt the pain intensify, but forced himself to look in her concerned eyes. "I'm fine," he said in a husky voice.

"Will you really call me later?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Promise?" she followed, never leaving his eyes.

"Promise"

"When?"

"Tonight."

"OK." she slowly started walking towards the door, then put her right hand over the handle and turned her head towards Luke, who seemed frozen in the same spot, watching her. She smiled tentatively. "All right. I'll just go, then. But don't you dare forget to call me tonight." He forced his lips into a smile and nodded. She then exited the storeroom, not knowing exactly what to think about that strange conversation.

As soon as she exited the room, Luke let out a loud breath, then opened the freezer again, grabbed the first thing he found, which happened to be a pint of Haagen-Dazs ice cream, and put it on his crotch, hissing through clenched teeth "I'm gonna die of blue balls if this doesn't stop soon!"

Lorelai and Rory were sitting on the sofa, zapping through the many different channels in search of something funny enough to entertain them for the night, when the phone rang.

"You answer the phone. I'm too old to get up in a hurry: my bones could crack and I would be boneless for the rest of my life just because I have a lazy daughter!" Lorelai told Rory.

"Yeah, yeah. Are you sure you are aware of who's the lazy one?" Rory mumbled while getting up to reach the phone. "You have reached the Gilmore girls' mansion. The younger and more active Gilmore is now speaking," she said in the receiver. "Hey Luke! Yeah, she's at home. She's just too lazy to drag her ass up here to answer the phone. Hold on."

As soon as she heard that it was Luke on the phone, Lorelai jumped to her feet and made her way towards the stairway. "I'm gonna get this upstairs, so that I won't bother you with my chatter!" she called while rapidly climbing the stairs.

"That would be a first!" Rory called back.

"Meanie!" Lorelai shouted having reached her bedroom. She sat cross-legged on the bed and picked up the phone. She waited a beat, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, then said, "Hey Luke!" She heard the tick that signaled that Rory had hung up the phone in the living room and relaxed against the headboard.

She could hear Luke breathing, but he remained silent, so she thought that maybe he hadn't heard her. "Hey, I'm here."

"Yeah, me too," he answered in a hoarse voice. _This is just ridiculous! Here I am with a hard-on again and there's nothing on earth that could have caused it!_

She chuckled. "I didn't think I had to explain this to you but, you see, this is a phone call: you are supposed to say something, then the other person says something, then it will be your turn again, and so on. Usually that's the way it works."

After a short silence, he simply said, "OK", trying not to give himself away and shifting uncomfortably on his bed, staring at the bold tent in his jogging pants, wishing it away with all he had.

"Yeah, I see you are getting the taking turns part, but you should improve the actual talking part."

"Hold on a sec," he interrupted her. She heard the noise of the telephone being put down on a hard surface, then some shuffle and other unidentified noises. _What is he doing? _She then heard the sound of his body flopping down his bed and the telephone being picked up again.

"Are you ready now?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered softly, a bag of frozen peas pressed to his crotch.

"What did you have to do?"

"Nothing much." _Goddammit! This time the effect is not immediate._

"Luke, _you_ called me. You are supposed to be a little more talkative than that!" Lorelai exclaimed, quite amused by his persistent mono-syllabic attitude.

"You know I'm not," Luke managed to say.

"What are you not?"

"Talkative." _God, this is not working at all! I'm starting to enjoy the feeling of the small hard peas rolling over my balls._

She started giggling again. "Yeah. Even if I didn't know it before, now I could definitely testify it in a court!"

"Lorelai, _you_ wanted to talk to me." Luke groaned, his right hand now blatantly rolling the peas bag over his groin, in what felt like an extremely pleasant massage, despite the cold.

That stopped her usually unstoppable flood of words. _Oh God! I know he is groaning in aggravation, but that sounded sooo sexy! _She cleared her throat. "Right! It's me who wanted to talk, as usual," she nervously giggled. Feeling a little overheated, she undid her hoodie zip, exposing a light blue tank top. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot!" Luke exhaled. _I should take my pants off. Maybe the feeling of this frozen thing directly on my skin would do its job. _He quickly took his jogging pants off, holding the receiver between his ear and his shoulder. He then laid on the bed again, completely naked except for a black T-shirt, grabbed the bag of frozen peas with his right hand and pressed it between his splayed legs at the base of his shaft, then he arranged it so that it also covered his balls and part of his perineum. Once it was placed exactly where he knew was most effective, he pressed it firmly against his bare skin. He could hear that Lorelai was talking, but the whole "refrigerating" operation didn't help him in focusing on what she was saying. On the other hand, it apparently started to be effective: he could both see his shaft slightly soften and feel the tightness in his groin lessen. He sighed in relief, then noticed that Lorelai had stopped talking, maybe to let him interject. "Sorry, go again?" he said.

"You mean you didn't hear a single word?" Lorelai asked in shock.

"I'm sorry. The…mmm…garbage truck was in the square and its noise covered your voice."

"Oh. OK." she sounded disappointed. "So I guess I'll have to start from the beginning, right?"

"Yeah, sorry for that." The cold bag was numbing his skin, but he didn't dare to remove it: unlike all the other times he had to adopt this drastic measure, he could see that his shaft was still partially erect and didn't want it to spring to full life again.

"Don't bother. It's not your fault." She cleared her throat again, sitting straighter on the bed and bending her knees to her chest. "I was saying that I haven't seen much of you since you came back from the hospital."

"I know." Luke splayed his legs further, pressing more firmly into his crotch. The heat from his groin and his hand was starting to defrost the peas, making them less effective.

Lorelai waited to see if he wanted to add something to his admission, then resumed. "I'm very glad you called tonight because I was starting to feel like you were avoiding me."

"I'm not." He paused, took a deep breath trying to take his increasing pulse under control, then repeated in a husky voice, "I'm not."

Lorelai was listening very intently. _Oh my dear! How can he be so sexy on the phone? A couple of short, simple words and he's making me feel as dizzy as if he was talking dirty. Must be because of how deep his voice sounds! _She was lazily caressing her left bent leg, only covered in her light pajamas bottom. "So why are you always running somewhere else every time I enter the diner?" she asked in a low voice.

_Dammit! Here it is again! _Luke realized that the peas bag was not so cold anymore and that he had been absentmindedly rolling it over his most sensitive parts once again, adding unneeded physical stimulation to his already throbbing hardness. He threw the bag away, to avoid any temptation to go on using it in a very improper yet extremely enjoyable way.

He sighed, trying to regroup and provide the answer Lorelai was waiting for. "You are not the problem." He cleared his throat, then added, "I am." He rolled on his stomach to find some relief.

"You have a problem with me?" she asked in a whisper, afraid of what he could answer and increasingly turned on by his hoarse voice, the sound of his ragged breathing and his slow and sensuous way of answering her questions.

He instinctively thrust his hips down against the mattress and softly groaned. He tried to cover the low groan with a cough, then answered, "Not with you. I've been having some problems since I came back from the hospital."

Suddenly worried, Lorelai stopped caressing her leg and sat motionless. "Oh. I didn't know it. I thought you were fine. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was hoping it could simply go away." Luke raised the hem of his T-shirt over chest, so that his shaft was trapped between his soft abdomen skin and the rough material of his bedspread. He felt a little guilty to do this while talking to Lorelai, but for the first time in what felt like a very long time, he was having an erection in the privacy of his room and he thought that he could as well try to enjoy it, instead of just wishing it away. _I'm going to take it extra-easy. As long as I'm talking to her, I'll try to be quiet and not to come. I won't even use my hands. _He started to gingerly rock his hips. He stopped immediately, shocked at how intense the sensations of the soft/rough stimulation felt.

"But it didn't?" Lorelai asked.

"What do you mean?" Luke panted, temporarily unable to keep up with the conversation.

"It didn't go away, I guess." Lorelai took her pillow and mindlessly squeezed it between her inner thighs, her body automatically responding to the sensuous quality of Luke's voice.

"No, it didn't." Luke slightly raised his hips from the mattress to decrease the amount of pressure on his hardness, then resumed his rocking movement.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Lorelai opened her legs a little wider and pressed the pillow closer to where she really needed it.

"You don't want to hear it," Luke murmured, afraid of how his voice would sound if he talked louder.

"Of course I do. I'm your friend." Lorelai's breath was erratic "I've been through this coma thing with you. Every day. I was scared to death, you know? And I was there when you woke up." The memory of that specific experience made her breathing issues even worse. She threw the pillow away in frustration, then changed her mind. She piled her three pillows at the center of the bed, then kneeled down and put her legs one on each side of the pile, straddling it. She lowered herself down splaying her legs, then started to undulate, searching for the friction she craved.

Now both of them were rocking, pleasuring themselves with their movements, each of them unknowingly savoring the other's sounds of pleasure.

"Believe me, you don't want to hear this one. And I don't want to tell you." Luke groaned.

"Why not?" Lorelai panted.

"Too private." Panting. "Too embarrassing."

"Mmmmh. Seems just my cup of tea!" she moaned, "I'm the Queen of embarrassing!"

Luke took his pillow and put it under his hips, starting to feel a little sore and wishing for something softer, unconsciously mirroring Lorelai's solution. "This time you'll have to accept my will. I'm not gonna tell you. I just want you to know that I'm not avoiding you. I'm simply not feeling very well lately. Not like my usual self." A long, slow, winding thrust against the soft pillow elicited another deep moan in his throat, and he didn't even try to cover it this time, being totally intoxicated with pleasure.

"OK." Suddenly eager for more, Lorelai laid down on her back, her legs bent and wide open and inserted her left hand inside her pajamas bottom. She let her middle finger slide along her soaked folds, then lightly circle her clit, repeating the fluid movement over and over again. Her voice came out jerkily. "Luke? Did you tell the doctor?"

"No. I'm gonna see him tomorrow," he sighed, not exactly looking forward for that particular conversation.

"You want me to come with you?" _Dirty! _she moaned.

"No need." Realizing he was having big troubles focusing, he got on his knees to momentarily stop the stimulation to his shaft, and took a deep breath.

Lorelai closed her eyes, undulating her hips against her hand, then, feeling that she was close, she completely stopped any movement. "You know, Luke. If I push so much it's not because I find it fun to annoy you. It's just that I care for you." She paused. "I really do." She slowly extracted her hand from her pajamas bottom, still feeling highly physically aroused, but strangely emotionally satisfied by what she just told him. She could hear that Luke was still there and that he was heavily breathing in the receiver. She softly smiled and bit her bottom lip, waiting for him to say something.

"Thanks. That means a lot to me!" he answered at last.

"You are welcome." she said quietly. "So, thanks for calling."

"I'm glad I did," he said, meaning every syllable of it.

"Me too. Goodnight Luke."

"Night Lorelai."

They both hung up the phone.

Lorelai kept the receiver against her cheek, happy to know that everything was OK between the two of them, then slowly sank into a deep sleep.

Luke stripped his shirt off, then stepped into the shower to finally find a release for his sexual frustration, for the first time in a long while feeling that maybe things were going to get better.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

Luke was sitting uncomfortably in Doctor Sullivan's office, in the very same chair where Lorelai had sat equally uncomfortable before.

"So you're saying that you've been experiencing frequent and apparently unjustified erections every day since you left the hospital," the doctor resumed.

"Right. Is this known to be… mmm… how would you say?... mmm… a side effect to the coma?" Luke asked hopefully.

The doctor seemed to ponder shortly, then answered. "Not that I know of. But human brain is always a bit of a mystery, no matter how much we try to study it."

"This is not very encouraging," Luke mumbled.

Doctor Sullivan smiled. "Anyway, my job is to at least try to understand. But I need your help here."

"Good. I'm willing to do anything you want me to, doctor."

"Very well. What I need you to do is to try to recollect what you were doing when these episodes happened: who was there, what was said, what you could see, hear, smell, touch and taste," the doctor enumerated on his fingers. "Let's start with yesterday. It will be easier because it's more recent. How many episodes did you have just yesterday?"

Luke didn't need to think about it to provide the exact answer. "Three."

"Ok. Tell me about the first one," the doctor instructed.

Luke shifted slightly on the chair. "I was working in the diner. I was serving a customer. I remember it very well because I thought: _I can't be having an erection while serving Taylor! _He was sitting at a table near the door. I remember it because while I was putting his soup on the table, I heard the door bells jingle and had to move slightly to my right not to be in the way."

"Who entered?" The doctor asked.

"It was Lorelai. I didn't see her because I was very focused on not spilling the soup, but I heard her say _Hey Luke _so I know it was her."

The doctor nodded, then asked, "So, what happened: you were serving that customer, then had an erection, then Miss Gilmore entered the diner?"

Luke frowned. "No. I think it was rather like that: I was approaching the table, then Lorelai entered, then the erection _while _I was serving Taylor. After that, I just went hiding in the storeroom without talking to anyone. That was it."

"Fine. Now the second episode."

"OK. I was flipping hamburgers in the diner kitchen. Then my assistant told me Lorelai was there and that she asked where I was. So I asked my assistant to take care of the kitchen and I went serving the customers. I saw Lorelai and greeted her. She was not as cheerful as usual. She was doing this thing some women do when they don't talk for a while and you understand that they are doing it to avoid weeping. So I started talking to her and she just nodded or shook her head. Then, when things seemed almost back to normal, and she had started talking again…" Luke made a gesture with his hands to indicate an explosion, "there we go for the second time!"

"What did you do then?" the doctor was now leaning forward, his elbows on the desk, and seemed very interested in Luke's tale.

"Storeroom for the second time." Luke summarized, considering it useless to say that Lorelai followed him there.

"OK, now the third one."

"I was calling Lorelai on the phone. She answered, said _Hey Luke _and…" Luke trailed off, gesturing vaguely.

"Very good, Mr. Danes! I think I see a pattern here!" the doctor seemed thrilled.

"You mean Lorelai, right? Well, she just happens to be around a lot. That's all. I don't think she could be the cause of my _episodes_, as you call them."

Doctor Sullivan was looking at him skeptically.

Seeing that the doctor didn't seem to buy it, Luke delved further. "It doesn't make any sense, if you think about it." He started enumerating on his fingers, "The first time I didn't even _look _at her. I just heard her greeting. The second time, I spent several minutes talking to her before _that_ happened. And the third time, I just heard her voice on the phone…." Luke was starting to get it, but couldn't believe it.

The doctor smiled, seeing that something was clicking in his patient's mind and added, "About the second time: you said the episode occurred when she started talking again."

Luke looked at Doctor Sullivan with wide eyes. "I can't believe it! It's her voice, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid it is, Mr. Danes."

"But why? How is such a crazy thing possible?"

The doctor cleared his throat. "There's something you need to know. I thought it was not necessary to tell you, but apparently I was wrong."

Luke was starting to get worried that something went wrong and that his mind was screwed forever, so he braced himself for what the doctor was going to tell him.

"When you were in a coma," the doctor resumed, "you had similar episodes, every day, at the very same hours, i.e. from 2.00 a.m. to 4.00 a.m."

Luke was astonished. "Really? But this is different. It doesn't always happen at the same hour."

"You are right. This is because when you were here at the hospital, Miss Gilmore came visiting you every day at the same hour, while now I guess she comes to see you when she can or wants to."

"You mean that every day, when Lorelai came here to see me, I was hard _throughout the course of the visit_?" Luke was furiously blushing at the mere thought of such an embarrassing circumstance.

"Yes. Well, not at the beginning, but after a few days she started holding your hand, and that, combined with the sound of her voice, caused your daily episodes. The other doctors and I were very happy about this result, because it showed that you could recognize Miss Gilmore and that you were not so far from consciousness." He paused. "Unfortunately, it appears that your brain made a very strong connection between Miss Gilmore's voice and an immediate sexual response, so now she just has to say _Hey Luke _to cause you a complete erection."

Luke was speechless. He was gazing at the doctor agape. His mind was spinning. Suddenly he remembered one thing about the day he woke up from the coma. He reddened even more deeply and cleared his throat. "One more thing: the day I woke up, I felt like… mmm… and I was all… ahem… I don't know how to describe…"

"Yes, I think I know what you want to ask. I was surprised you didn't ask immediately. You felt like you just experienced a powerful ejaculation, didn't you?" Luke nodded. "It's highly probable that you did. You had been having these erections every day for almost three weeks, so maybe your body just decided to release the accumulated tension. It's perfectly normal. Personally, I think that this is what awoke you."

Luke thought he was going to die of embarrassment. "Lorelai was there," he choked.

"Yes" the doctor confirmed.

"Do you think she noticed?"

The doctor reflected briefly, then said in truthfulness. "I was not there. I don't know what she could have noticed or done. I don't know exactly what happened. You should ask her."

Luke snorted. "Right! That would make a very nice chatting topic!"

The doctor smiled. "It's up to you."

Luke pondered, then asked. "So, what now?"

The doctor looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Now that I know the reason of my trouble, how can I solve the problem? Lorelai enters my diner at least three times a day! And if she doesn't, she calls me, she asks me to come over to fix things at her house… We are friends! I can't avoid her forever."

The doctor sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't have an answer to your question. I think that, if you are friends, you should try to talk to her. Maybe you could find a solution together. Or maybe you would be able to act on the obvious attraction you feel towards her."

Luke looked desperate. "Are you sure there's nothing you can do for me? No treatments, no medications, nothing?"

"I'm sorry."

Luke stood up, ready to go back to his personal hell. "Well. At least I know I'm not completely out of my mind. Yet."

Luke was lying on his bed, trying to think of an alternative solution to the only one that he was still not ready to accept. A week had passed from the day he went to see Doctor Sullivan and nothing had changed, despite his desperate attempts to return to normalcy.

At first he thought that maybe, now that he knew the reason of his problem, it could just vanish. _Isn't it the way all that psychological crap is supposed to work?_ Then, he thought that maybe he was wrong to run away every time Lorelai entered the diner and that, since he could not avoid her forever, he could just as well try to talk to her normally. _Maybe chatting about our usual trivial subjects could make my brain erase the sexual connection it makes with her voice._ So he spent a whole week forcing himself to hang out with her, pretending that her always too revealing clothes and her friendly flirting were not killing him and adding unnecessary fuel to his already well ignited body.

He groaned in aggravation, knowing that there was no other solution he could think about. He just had to talk to her and see if they could work it out together. _It can't be worse that what I'm going through now!_

That night he didn't sleep much and in the morning he felt physically exhausted and mentally drained. He considered shaving for a minute, then discarded the idea thinking that it could make him feel more vulnerable. So he opted for his usual ragged look, his favorite blue and black flannel, dark jeans and backwards baseball cap, trying to feel comfortable in his clothes, as he couldn't feel comfortable in his skin anymore.

He knew that the first step was the easier part, so he started his daily routine in the diner trying to think about one step at a time, but when the breakfast rush was almost over, his pulse started to increase, knowing that Lorelai was about to show up.

At 8.00 a.m. he heard the door bells jingle. He didn't have to look up to know it was Lorelai. He felt the knot in his guts tighten and he knew it was her.

"Hey Luke!" she cheerfully greeted, sitting at her usual table with Rory.

His immediate physical response to her voice didn't surprise him. He took a deep breath and braced himself to go taking their orders. "I'll be right there!" He took the coffee pot and walked to their table, trying to mask the fact that his thighs movement was increasing his discomfort, and also trying not to stare at her long legs blatantly displayed by her saucy black miniskirt.

"Morning Luke." Rory smiled up at him.

"Hey Rory. Do you know what you want?" he asked, pouring some coffee in their respective mugs, totally ashamed of being in such a state in front of an innocent girl. Fortunately the combination of double jockstraps, large jeans and baggy shirt was doing its job in hiding all evidence of his arousal.

"Toast, bacon and scrambled eggs for me, thanks." she answered in her cute, polite voice.

"Good. What about you, Lorelai?"

"Mmmm, the same, but add some pancakes with syrup, if you don't mind."

"Why would I?" he deadpanned, "I gave up trying to let you live past your forties long ago." While he was scribbling their orders, he saw her uncrossing her legs at the margin of his vision and that sent a jolt of physical pain to his lower abdomen. _God! Why did she have to wear that damn skirt today?_

"Are you OK? You look sick!" Lorelai asked, her concerned voice making him feel even more uncomfortable in his increasingly tight underwear.

He sucked in his breath and answered, "I'm fine," while exhaling.

"Are you sure? You look flushed," she insisted.

"Yes, Luke. You look overheated." Rory added. "Maybe your flannel is too warm for this nice spring day!"

"My shirt is OK." He managed to answer, then turned and hurried towards the kitchen to hand their orders to Caesar and hide from their curious gaze.

"What's wrong with him?" Rory asked to her mother.

"I guess he still didn't recover perfectly." Lorelai answered pensive, "He did tell me that he was still having some health issues."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Lorelai shrugged, "he wouldn't tell me."

"Poor Luke! He's been even more monosyllabic lately!"

When the Gilmores' breakfast was ready, Luke brought it to their table without making any chatter, pretending to be too busy working. He then took refuge behind the counter, flipping through his receipts and waiting for the right moment to make his move, tormented by the sound of Lorelai's voice and laughter.

After an amazingly short range of time, considered the amount of food they ate, Rory kissed her mother, greeted Luke and flew out of the diner to catch her bus.

Lorelai slowly gathered her organizer and purse, then went to the counter to pay her check. Seeing that she was approaching, Luke swallowed hard, getting ready for the first part of his plan.

Lorelai smirked. "I know you're still not totally fine, but I think I'm gonna milk it for my own pleasure, so why don't you add one more cup of your wonderful coffee to make amends for your rudeness? Make it to go, thanks."

"Whatever." Luke simply answered, then started pouring her coffee in a large to-go cup.

Lorelai frowned. "What do you mean by _Whatever_? No lecture, no eye roll, nothing at all?"

He put the plastic lid upon the cup and the cup on the counter, then leaned forward, still holding her coffee, and whispered to Lorelai, "I need to talk to you."

"Oh! So now you're trying to adopt the conspiratorial approach, aren't you? Well, I must tell you that it's not going to work! No matter how and what you are going to tell me, I'm not going to give up coffee!"

Luke cleared his voice, worried that the other patrons could hear their conversation, then whispered again, "Lorelai, please be quiet. This is not about coffee."

She looked puzzled. "Oh, sorry. I thought you wanted to try something new to make me understand all the bad bad things coffee could make to my defenseless yet amazingly beautiful body!"

Luke blinked, trying to banish from his already foggy mind the tantalizing images of all the bad bad things _he _would like to do to Lorelai's amazingly beautiful body. "Yeah, well… not this time."

"So what is this about?"

He took a deep breath. "I can't tell you now. Do you think you could come here by closing time?"

"You mean tonight?" He simply nodded. She shrugged. "Yeah. No problem. Rory will be at Lane's, so I'll be free."

He tried to ignore the tightening of his groin at the thought of being alone with Lorelai. He still had to add one important thing before he could declare the first step successfully completed. "One more thing. This is tricky, but extremely important." He paused, searching her eyes to be sure that she was paying attention. When he was sure, he sighed and resumed. "You can't talk. You can't greet me when you enter, you can't say yes or no, you can't grumble, you can't laugh, you can't utter a single word."

"Can I sing?"

Luke rolled his eyes in aggravation. "Lorelai, this is not a game."

"But it sounds like it," she retorted.

"Forget it. If you can't do it, just forget it." He slid the to-go cup on the counter, towards her, ready to go hiding in the storeroom once again, when he felt her hand grasp his wrist.

"Hey, don't go. Of course I can do it. I just don't understand."

He stopped in his tracks, trying to calm down. "I know. I'm sorry that it has to be so confusing, but if you still want to come by, I will explain you everything later. But remember: no sound has to pass your lips tonight. It's essential."

"But what if I want to tell you something?" she asked, curious.

"You can write it down, I guess."

Lorelai clapped her hands happily. "That sounds so much fun! I can't wait to see you later!"

Luke smiled at her high spirits. "I hope I won't disappoint you."

She smiled back at him. "See you later, Luke! I'll bring a very thick notepad!" and with that and a loud jingle of the door bells, she was gone.

_Man, this is going to be the hardest night of my life!_

Luke had closed the diner a little earlier that night. He had prepared a fresh pot of coffee and was now sitting at a table, trying to collect his thoughts while waiting for Lorelai to show up. He heard the door bells jingle and turned his head to the door, where he saw Lorelai standing, a bright smile on her lips and her right hand pointing to the big notebook in her left, to showcase it to him.

"Hey, you made it!" Luke rose to his feet. "Do you want some coffee? I just made a fresh pot." Lorelai nodded. "OK. Why don't you take a seat? I'll take the coffee and join you at once."

Lorelai sat at the same table where Luke was sitting before, opened her notebook and started delving into her purse for a pen.

Luke was nervously pouring the coffee in her favorite mug, trying to find an opening line, but coming up empty. "Pie? I've got some lemon pie left, if you want," he offered, trying to buy some time. Lorelai shook her head.

"OK, there you go," he said, placing the filled mug on the table, in front of Lorelai. She smiled and inhaled the beloved coffee aroma with eyes closed, then opened them again, looking at Luke who was sitting in front of her. She could see that he was uncomfortable, but didn't know what to do to put him at ease, so she just waited in silence, both hands wrapped around the mug, giving him the time he needed to tell her what he wanted to say.

He cleared his throat. "This is not going to be easy, so I'll try to make it short." He shifted his gaze from her face to her hands, finding it easier to talk without looking in her beautiful and attentive eyes. "As I already told you, I'm experiencing some issues since I came back from the hospital. I went to see the doctor almost one week ago, and he seems to be sure that the source of my issues is your voice." He glanced at her and noticed that she was looking at him agape, so he resumed quickly. "I know it sounds crazy, but apparently it can be medically explained with some similar… what?" Lorelai was tugging at his sleeve to draw his attention.

She started writing furiously on her notebook, then turned the page towards him to let him read what she had written: "Which issues is my voice causing you?"

"Yeah, right. I didn't tell you, did I?" he shifted uncomfortably on his chair, violently blushing. She shook her head once, looking at him with wide eyes. "Well… as strange as it can sound," he cleared his throat again, "the mere sound of your voice has the power to cause my instant erection."He almost whispered the last word, his face an even darker shade of red, but Lorelai perfectly understood it. Her right hand flew to her mouth, while she goggled her eyes. Her heart was beating very fast. She knew this had something to do with what happened at the hospital and she hoped that Luke didn't want to ask her about her role in that part of his story. She didn't completely understand why it was just her voice that caused his reaction, but she had no intention of asking for details. If the doctor said so, she was ready to accept it. Suddenly all the pieces were fitting together: the baggy shirt, his strange behavior, even that extremely sexy chat they had on the phone about an apparently _not _sexy topic.

Neither of them knew how to carry on this conversation, so they both sat silently for a while. Luke couldn't stop blushing and didn't dare looking at Lorelai. Then Lorelai started writing again. "Are you sure it is my voice?"

He read the message and answered. "Yeah. Unfortunately I'm positive. In the beginning I didn't realize it, but the doctor made me recall all the _episodes_, as he calls them, and there's no doubt about it: it always happens when I hear your voice, irrespective of what I'm doing, what I'm watching or even what I'm thinking of. It happens every time like a charm. As much as I try, I don't have any control over this thing. No way to avoid it. You just have to say _Hey Luke_ and there I go." He took a deep breath, feeling a little relieved to have told Lorelai the truth at last. "Wow. I said it. I didn't think I could do it."

He glanced timidly towards Lorelai and he saw that she was writing again. "What did the doctor say? Anything we can do?"

He sighed. "He said he didn't have a solution. He suggested to talk to you about it and see if we could find a solution together. At first I thought he was crazy, but now I can see no other way out. I already tried to find a solution on my own, but everything I try is ineffective." For the first time that night, he searched for her eyes. "I know this must be any sort of awkward to you, but would you consider helping me find a solution, Lorelai?"

Without leaving his eyes, she reached for his hands, both lying on the table, and gently but firmly squeezed them, then nodded. He smiled. "Thanks!"

Luke was preparing Kirk's breakfast, cutting the toasts in smaller pieces, then covering them with maple syrup, whipped cream and banana slices as his customer requested that morning, and he was finding it quite amusing. _This is new: I find Kirk's unnerving requests amusing, now! _He smiled, then exited the kitchen and reached Kirk's table. "There you go! I hope you enjoy it." he said.

"Thank you Luke. You should put it on your menu, you know. You could call it _Kirk's Connecticut toasts_. I'm sure all the tourists would ask you the story behind this dish." Kirk said, in a dull voice.

"I'll think about it." Luke answered. He then turned to the nearby table, occupied by Babette and Miss Patty. "What can I get you, beautiful ladies?" he asked, extracting his order pad from the front of his jeans.

"Mmmm, you are already making my day, handsome." Miss Patty purred in her low voice.

Babette added, "We're glad to see that you're in a very good mood, Luke. Any particular reason for that?"

"No reason at all. I'm just happy to be here, doing my job," he answered, his eyes on the order pad, ready to write down their orders.

"Yeah. And we are happy that you are here too! I see that the upcoming spring made you reconsider your attire." Miss Patty added, a mischievous grin on her lips.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, Sugah," Babette interjected, her voice as hoarse as usual. "We didn't like it when you used to button your shirt up to your chin."

Luke immediately started blushing, knowing exactly what she was referencing to and remembering the reason why he had to button his shirt up.

Miss Patty added with intention, "With a hot body like yours, it's a pity to hide it in all that flannel, my dear!"

"Whatever," he deadpanned. "So, do you know what you want?"

"Oh yes, I do my dear." Miss Patty answered under her breath, "But that's not something I can say out loud." She smirked and shot a sideway glance at Babette, who was now giggling.

"OK. I'll come by later, when you'll be ready to order." Luke announced, then went behind the counter to start brewing a fresh pot of coffee. _Lorelai and Rory should be here in about fifteen minutes, if they are not running late, and there better be some fresh coffee when they come in. _He smiled fondly at the thought of the two coffee-addicted Gilmore girls.

Almost ten days had passed since the night he had talked to Lorelai and he had to admit that he didn't think she would be so selfless and ready to help him. She didn't ask him anything about his awkward situation. No details, no assumptions, nothing at all. That's what surprised him the most. He was ready to answer to a barrage of silly questions, but she just seemed to accept his situation and was willing to think about possible solutions. Each day she came up with a new idea, even better than the one she had the day before, and in the end they had settled in a nice routine, which seemed to address his problem.

First of all, she suggested that he bought a computer, so that they could easily relate by email or instant messaging. Luke was a little reluctant in the beginning, but she made him see all the advantages of being able to communicate with him without using her voice, and at last he had surrendered, pretending that he bought the devilish device because he needed it for inventory and fiscal purposes. Now he never let his laptop be too far from him. In the diner, he placed it on a small stool, under the counter, so that he could be aware if Lorelai sent him a message or he could just use it to write to her whenever he needed or felt like.

As Rory was not to be put in the picture, Lorelai couldn't simply stop talking whenever she entered the diner, neither could she just completely stop going there. Hence she and Luke agreed that she would send him a message every morning to tell him her daily schedule, so that he could just avoid being around her. So far, it had worked perfectly. No one seemed to have noticed that he was always running errands or going upstairs every time Lorelai entered the diner. He didn't even miss her too much because they chatted a lot in the evening, when he closed the diner. He had started to long for that moment of the day, when he could close himself up in his apartment, take a relaxing shower, then sit on his bed, his laptop on his legs, a smile tugging up the corners of his lips.

"Caesar! I have to go run a few errands. Can you cover for me? I won't be long," he called, as soon as the coffee was ready.

"Sure thing boss. Go ahead." Caesar answered.

Luke put his laptop on the counter, then wrote "I'm leaving now" on the instant messaging application.

He was surprised to see that Lorelai was writing "Take it easy, we are running a little late. Ten more minutes." He closed the laptop lid, then unplugged the device and put it in its bag to carry it with him. He knew how nosy Stars Hollow inhabitants could be, and he didn't want anyone to pry into his personal messages and emails.

"Luke, where do you think you are going? You still have to take our orders!" Babette called, while he was approaching the door.

"Don't worry Babette," Luke answered opening the door, "Caesar will take good care of both of you. Have a nice day!" and with that he was gone.

"Not exactly the same, right Patty?" Babette pouted.

"I guess we'll just have to try to make the best of things. He's been very busy lately. I wonder if his cheerful mood and his frequent absconding have anything to do with a girl." She winked in a no-nonsense tone.

"It'd be about time for him to find a somebody!" Babette exclaimed pensively.

"Yeah. Even if I'm not ready to give up on Lorelai. They would be just perfect together!" Both ladies sighed dreamily at the same time, then Babette started chattering about the latest town gossips, their favorite diner owner temporarily forgotten for the benefit of other more juicy topics.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

Luke was sitting on his bed, in his usual nightly attire of jogging pants and T-shirt, his back resting against his headboard, his long legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at his ankles, and his new friend - the laptop - lying on a pillow he put on his lap to provide the right height to write comfortably.

He was chatting with Lorelai, who was sharing her little daily anecdotes.

Lorelai: "Can you imagine that? I think I'll never be able to show my face in that shop anymore! It was too awkward!"

Luke: "I find it hard to believe. You have the memory of a goldfish. Tomorrow you'll enter that shop again, totally oblivious of what happened today."

Lorelai: "Hey! Don't insult goldfishes. They are cute!"

Luke: "Yeah. So are you."

Lorelai: "WOW! You just said I'm cute!"

Luke: "Yeah, like a goldfish. Because of the goofy things you do…"

Lorelai: "You said I'm cute! Don't back-pedal now. I know what you really meant is that I'm totally gorgeous."

Luke: "Don't be silly, now."

Lorelai: "What? You don't think I'm totally gorgeous?"

Luke: "Even if I thought so, I would never write it down for you to blackmail me."

Lorelai: "So? What is it? You think so or you don't think so?"

Luke: "I won't fall into this one."

Lorelai: "Come on. I won't tell anybody in the world, except maybe for Rory. Oh, and Sookie. Oh, and Babette. Can't forget about Babette, she's always asking me about my love interests. Not that you should be considered as my love interest in any case, but you know, that would be just to give her something to talk about, she would really love it. So? What's your response? Do you think so or not?"

Luke: "I think I forgot what we were talking about."

Lorelai: "Goldfish"

Luke: "…"

Lorelai: "I like to muddle you up!"

Luke was laughing out loud, really enjoying his aimless banter with Lorelai, so he stopped writing for a while.

Lorelai: "Luke?"

Luke: "I'm here."

Lorelai: "I almost tripped on one of the porch floorboards today."

Luke: "At your house?"

Lorelai: "Yeah, at the Crap Shack. I guess it has to be fixed. It keeps on swinging"

Luke: "It seems dangerous. Be careful! Do you want me to come over and try to fix it?"

Lorelai: "Yes, please. I would be forever grateful! Bring you sacrifices, cover you in rose petals and wash your feet with perfumed oils, drying them with my long and soft hair!"

Luke: "Want me to bring coffee as well?"

Lorelai: "Oh God! I will be your slave forever and ever!"

Luke: "And brownies, maybe, to go with the coffee?"

Lorelai: "That's too much. I can't take it anymore. Give me time to recover, I'm not used to such intense cyber-sex."

Luke chuckled, then wrote: "When do you want me to come?"

Lorelai: "Dirty!"

Luke: "OK. I guess I stepped right into that one."

Lorelai: "You're too naive, don't you know whom you're writing to?"

Luke: "Right. My fault. So when shall I come by?"

Lorelai: "Let's say five-_ish_. I should be home already and Rory will still be at her science group, so we will be able to _not _talk freely."

Luke: "Fine. I'll see you then."

Lorelai: "Thanks a lot, Luke. I really appreciate it."

Luke: "And I appreciate what you are doing to help me. Very much."

She smiled fondly, then typed: "Not a big deal. It's kind of amusing to chat with you in this way."

Luke: "Yeah. It's not bad."

Lorelai: "I'll see you tomorrow, King of effusiveness!"

Luke: "Good night, Lorelai."

Lorelai: "Good night Luke."

They both closed their laptops, Luke putting it on his nightstand, and Lorelai shifting it to the side of her bed she was not going to use. _Who knows… maybe one day a real man will take the place of this little electronic roommate! _She sighed. _I wish it would be the same man I spend my nights writing to! _She turned off the light, closed her eyes and started sliding into her night's sleep.

The following day went by very slowly for both Lorelai and Luke. They were eager to be together again, even if only for a short time, the time he needed to fix her porch. Chatting on the Internet was nice and it was a very effective way of avoiding any problem, but they both missed to be in the same space, to look into each other's eyes, to see the other's smile. _Man, I got it bad!_ Lorelai thought, when she impatiently entered her house at half past four and ran up the stairs hastily discarding her clothes and shoes to get ready for her "date" with Luke. She hadn't admitted to anyone, not even to herself, that she had missed his presence so much. But now her restlessness was a clear sign of what she was feeling. _This is not good. Not good at all! I can't go on like this. I have to find another solution._ She stepped into the shower, turned her face upwards and let the warm water wash away her makeup and her worries.

She was still arranging her hair, fluffing its heavy curls to graciously frame her naturally blushed cheeks, when she heard Luke's truck parking in front of her house. She quickly put some lipstick on, shot another glance at her image in the mirror, hesitated a moment to consider whether she should change into a more fashionable attire, then decided against it, giving her final approval to her casual yet sexy look. She rushed down the stairs in a very form-fitting pair of jeans, a white tank top and bare manicured feet. She grabbed the notebook and pencil she already had prepared on the kitchen table, then exited on the porch.

There he was. She wouldn't have been able to speak even if she had wanted. He was simply breathtaking. She didn't remember he was so gorgeous. She thought she did remember everything about him, but she was so wrong! Because of the warm evening, he had removed his flannel and he was only wearing a blue V-neck T-shirt with his old worn out jeans and his trademark backwards baseball cap. He was on one knee, already preparing the tools he needed to repair her porch, extracting them from his toolbox and sorting them on the floor beside him, left elbow resting on his left knee, while he used the right hand to search for the tools.

Lorelai was standing motionless in the doorframe, unable to breathe, hypnotized by the vision he offered. _Lorelai, move! Do something! You don't want to be caught staring at him, do you?_ She then took a piece of paper from her notepad, rolled it into a ball and threw it at Luke, aiming for his left shoulder. He immediately looked up smiling. "Hey! I didn't hear you coming." He noticed her bare feet. "Oh, that must be the reason why you were so silent: you're not wearing shoes." She moved her toes, to further demonstrate her foot bareness and he chuckled. "I already saw where the bad floorboard is. It shouldn't take too long." She smiled and nodded. He allowed himself to look up at her for a moment without saying anything, just to take in her dazzling beauty, then resumed his work.

She sat cross-legged on the floor, her back resting against the wall, happy to keep him company while he was working. She adopted the technique of throwing paper balls to him whenever she needed to tell him something, so that he would look at her and she could show him what she had written on the notepad. She kept smiling all the time, slightly amused by the strange situation of this unequal communication, but unable to let herself completely go to the fun of their banter, mesmerized by his deep voice, his affectionate tone, his beautiful blue eyes, framed by long dark eyelashes. _Well, I'm supposed not to let any sound pass my lips, so this is just perfect. Today I feel like I'm physically unable to laugh. _

When she considered that Luke could have almost finished, she put the notepad and pencil on the floor, then softly said, "Hey Luke."

He froze, gaze still on the floorboard he was fixing, still kneeling on the floor, motionless.

"Do you want some iced tea?" she asked.

"What are you doing?" he said without moving. She couldn't see his face, but she could see that he was breathing hard, his back and shoulders moving up and down rapidly.

She sighed. "This isn't working, Luke."

"That's not true. It was working." He closed his eyes and exhaled shakily. "I think I should go."

"Please, don't." She stood up and slowly walked closer to the door, still looking at his bent figure. "You should come in. We need to address this." Seeing that he was still not moving, she added, "Please Luke. We have to try, at least."

He looked up at her with pleading eyes. "You know I can't."

"Don't be silly. Of course you can. We are both grown-ups. In any case, you already explained everything to me, so there's no need to be embarrassed anymore." She stopped, to check if he seemed to be convinced by her words, but he was still in the very same position, apparently just trying to catch his breath. "OK. I'll give you a couple of minutes to regroup. I'll wait for you inside. Just promise me you won't go away," she added eventually.

Luke simply nodded, his head once more bent towards the floor.

"Is this a promise?" Lorelai asked. She really didn't want to waste the precious occasion they had to be alone.

"Yeah, promise," he sighed.

She decided to trust him, so she entered the house headed towards the kitchen, opened the fridge, considered taking the iced tea but opted for two bottles of water instead, thinking that water would be more convenient in their current situation. Then she walked to the living room, sat on the couch and put the two bottles on the coffee table in front of her. She was feeling slightly nervous, and she knew that Luke was probably feeling even worse, so she took a magazine from the coffee table and started to flip through it, just to keep her hands and eyes occupied and to avoid staring at the doorframe. She knew Luke was a very private person and she could only imagine how uncomfortable he must feel to walk into her house sporting an erection, with no flannel to cover it, so she thought that the best thing to do was to play it cool and pretend not to give it any importance.

After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, she heard his footsteps on the floor. She forced herself not to look up from her magazine, and when she heard that he had stopped near the couch, she patted on the couch cushion near her, her eyes still glued on the glossy paper in her hands, and said, "Take a seat."

He didn't sit and asked "Rory?"

She smiled, touched that he would worry about her little girl as a first thing, and looked up at his tensed face. "She's not here. She's at her science group, then will have dinner with a couple of schoolmates. I'll have to pick her up later, but we have plenty of time. Don't you want to sit down?"

Eventually he flopped on the couch next to her, and settled with legs splayed wide, feet planted firmly, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. "It was working just fine," he said in a deep voice that sent shivers down her spine.

"No, it wasn't. Not for me. We can't go on like that forever. I miss being with you, Luke. Rory misses you. Did you think she could not notice that you are never around when we come to the diner?"

He shrugged. She realized she was watching his body from the very same perspective she had when they were on the porch: all she could see were his broad shoulders and back moving up and down fast. She couldn't even see his face.

She knew she had to be more convincing to make him abandon what he probably considered a perfect solution, so she resumed, "This could be OK for a short period, but it can't be our final solution. Do you realize that I can't even laugh when we are together? All I can do is smile and write. Can't you see how frustrating this is? You are my best friend, for crying out loud! I can't be banned from your presence just because of some stupid reaction your body is getting from my voice."

Luke groaned, grabbed a small cushion with his left hand and casually put it over his crotch to protect it from her gaze, then he leaned backwards, his head tilted back against the couch backrest, his eyes closed and his legs splayed even wider.

"Are you OK?" Lorelai asked tentatively.

"Not really," he panted.

"Feeling uncomfortable?" she tried, suddenly feeling guilty and extremely selfish for putting him through all this.

"Yeah," he mumbled, "and ridiculous."

"You are not!" she exclaimed forcefully, turning towards him, her left leg bent under her bottom and her right foot on the floor.

With his head still resting on the back of the couch, eyes still closed, he grimaced. "And in extreme pain."

That forced her mind into hyperactive mode. She couldn't stand being a cause of pain for him. "OK. Now listen. This is my idea: we should try to talk to each other like we used to do before all that mess happened, so that your brain will eventually register the fact that it's just me you are talking to: the old, chatty, crappy-eating, coffee-addicted, screwed up Lorelai Gilmore. How does it sound?" she asked hopefully.

"Don't know," he grunted, "I already tried. Didn't work."

"Yes, but that was different: you were working, in a public place, with lots of other interferences." She was not ready to drop the idea. "Now it's only you and me. It _has _to work!"

"It's not working," he mumbled, still in the same agonizing position.

"Well, you are not doing it right!" she said, a little annoyed. "You should look at me. Otherwise you just hear my voice, which is exactly the source of our problems, and you don't give your brain the possibility to link that voice to my well-known image."

He smirked. "Believe me, my brain already knows your voice pretty well."

Lorelai took another small cushion and hit his right shoulder with it. "Hey, what is this supposed to mean? Are you suggesting that I talk too much?"

The smirk suddenly disappeared from his face and he moaned, absent-mindedly thrusting his hips once upwards, against the cushion he was still holding on his crotch with his left hand. He immediately realized what he just did, so he snapped his eyes open and pulled himself up, in a straight sitting position, blushing furiously. "Sorry. I really should go before I do something stupid." He mumbled.

Lorelai was feeling overheated as well, but didn't want him to give up yet. "No way, buddy," she tried to lighten the mood. "What do we have to lose?"

"My dignity?" he asked only half-joking.

"Come on, Luke. It's only me. Look at me and tell me about your day." She encouraged. _God, why can't I just jump him here and now and put an end to our double agony?_

He slowly turned his head towards her, but immediately shut his eyes closed. "It's not helping."

"What's wrong?" she asked in what she meant as a soothing tone, but came out a little too breathy.

He gestured vaguely towards her upper body, still without looking at her. She looked downwards and she noticed that her thin tank top, which she was wearing without any bra, was clearly showing her now hardened nipples and slightly swollen areola. "Whoa, I'm sorry!" she blushed. _That's just great! Now he knows I'm as turned on as he is! _She took the same small cushion she had used before to hit his shoulder and hold it to her chest. "Fortunately I have a lot of cushions here!" she chuckled nervously.

"You don't have to cover yourself up. It's my fault: I'm acting like a pervert. I'll just go home and take a cold shower."

"No. You'll stay. Who knows when we will be able to be alone again? We have to address this now." She took a deep breath. "OK. I'm covered now. Sorry for my bad choice of clothes. I swear it was not intentional. Now look at me and talk to me."

"Lorelai…" he started, but found it difficult to go on.

"Luke, it's just me. Come on!"

He turned towards her again, eyes glued to her beautiful face, then he took a deep breath to try to cool down.

She smiled. "Hey!"

He grimaced. "Hi!"

"That's nice! Your trousers match my top!" she exclaimed with excessive enthusiasm, gesturing towards the two cushions covering her chest and his groin.

That made him smile. "You're certifiable."

That made her giggle. "Now this is the Luke Danes we all know and love!" she looked at him in the eyes and with a sparkling smile she asked him, "Hey, do you want to know about _my _day? You wouldn't believe what happened at the Inn!"

He shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

She then started talking at her usual one mile a minute rate, telling him trivial facts and inventing funny anecdotes just for his amusement, but from the way he shifted on the couch and from the fact that his faint smile never quite reached his eyes she could see that he was still uncomfortable.

"Lorelai," he cut her off after almost half an hour of incessant talking.

"Yes?" she smiled.

"It's not working," he panted.

"But it's getting better, isn't it?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid it's not." He groaned, once again resting his head backwards against the backrest.

"Still uncomfortable?" she asked in a small voice.

He snorted. "That's the understatement of the year!"

"Is it still painful?" she asked, concerned. She really couldn't stand the thought of Luke being in pain because of her.

"You have no idea." He was far beyond embarrassment now. His mind was as foggy as if he had been doped.

"OK. I've got another idea." Lorelai proposed, once again in hyperactive mode.

"Please, shoot me!" Luke groaned.

"No, silly!" she giggled. "I'm not going to shoot you. I'm going to help you relax. You are too tense!"

"Whatever," Luke exhaled, obviously paying no attention to what Lorelai was saying.

"OK, Luke, focus!" she reached for his chin and turned his face towards her. He blinked, fighting the urge to kiss her tempting glossy lips, then tried to focus on what she was saying.

"Sorry. Say that again, would you?" he asked, still short of breath.

"Yes. I read this article today about a massage that should be just perfect for you." She swallowed hard, then resumed, "It is called Lingam massage and its goal is specifically to help men relax into the massage. Why don't we try this?"

He didn't answer and kept gazing in her eyes, his lips slightly parted, his fast breath coming out in short puffs.

"Luke?" Lorelai called.

He sighed. "I hope you will forgive me, Lorelai, but at the moment I find the thought of you giving me a massage highly erotic."

She blushed. "I know. But if I can do it right, this should be very relaxing and it should teach you to just surrender to your sensations and… well, calm down a little."

"OK." He gave up.

"Really? You want to try?" she asked, suddenly eager.

"Why not? Let's try this… how did you say it's called?"

"Lingam massage," Lorelai repeated, rising up to her feet and pulling Luke's hand to make him stand up as well.

"What's _Lingam_?" Luke asked, unable of putting up resistance and standing up next to her, still holding the cushion over his crotch with his left hand.

"Well, that would be the Sanskrit word for the male sexual organ." Lorelai rapidly informed him blushing again, then started pulling him towards the stairway, without giving him the time to process the information.

"Where are we going?" Luke asked stumbling in his feet.

"Upstairs. We need a more comfortable place." Lorelai answered, surprised that he was not putting up a fight against her idea. They climbed the stairs in silence, then entered Lorelai's bedroom, stopping at the sight of all her clothes and shoes scattered on the bed and on the floor. "Sorry. I forgot it was such a mess." She quickly collected all the things on the bed and put them on the nearby armchair, then told him, "OK. You should take your clothes off and lie down on my bed."

"What? Are you crazy?" He asked goggling his eyes.

"I can't give you a massage if you are wearing clothes." She said in a duh voice, rolling her eyes.

They stood there for a while, looking at each other, then Luke said, "Fine. Why not?" and sat on the bed, starting to untie his boots. Lorelai was mesmerized by his movements and by the rippling muscles of his arms and shoulders. She couldn't believe that he was undressing in her bedroom. He quickly took his shoes off, then his socks, cap and T-shirt. Lorelai forgot how to breathe for a few seconds, then he turned towards her and asked, "What about my trousers?" and she exhaled "Off." He undid his belt buckle, the button of his jeans and his zipper, then he slightly lifted his hips from the bed and shed his jeans quickly, kicking them away. "Can I keep my underwear on?" he asked, rolling his T-shirt into a ball and trying to cover his bulge with it.

Lorelai cleared her throat. "You should take it off. But wait, I'm gonna get you a towel. I'll be right back." She quickly entered the bathroom, closed the door and splashed her flushed face with cold water. _Oh my! I must be completely out of my mind! Luke is lying naked on my bed, as horny as a man can be and all I get to do is give him a massage! Well, at least today I'll touch him for real. I hope so much that he will touch me back!_ She dried her face, then grabbed two soft towels and a bottle of body oil and entered the room again. Luke was still sitting on the edge of the bed, having taken his grey boxers off, but still covering his most private parts with his rolled up T-shirt. He turned his head towards her when he heard her enter the room.

"OK," she tried to smile. "Now I will put this towel on the bed because I have to use body oil for this massage," and she positioned the first towel at the center of the bed, where she guessed Luke's hips would be, "while this other towel is for you, if you still feel shy and want to cover yourself up."

"Thanks," he breathed, grabbing the towel and using it to cover his groin.

Lorelai sighed, then resumed, "Fine. You should position yourself at the center of the bed, over this towel, like that," she said while he shifted towards the center of the bed trying not to expose his manhood. "Yes, that's perfect!" she said. "Let me put this pillow under your knees, like that. You should spread your legs apart, with the knees slightly bent. Wait, we need one more pillow to support both of your knees." She couldn't stop talking, trying not to focus too much on the burning sensations provoked by the gorgeous man that was sprawled on her bed, almost completely naked. "OK. Now one more pillow under your head, because you should be able to look at me, if you want. Fine." She was on the bed, beside Luke, moving the pillows in the most suitable positions and incidentally touching his head, his legs and his arms in the process. "Yeah, good." She paused, watching his position, then giggled. "No, this is not good. You should remove your hands from your groin, Luke. This can't be a comfortable position for you and it surely prevents me from giving you the massage." She reached for his hands and guided them to his sides, in a more relaxed position. She sighed. "OK. Are you comfortable?"

"Guess so." Luke panted. "But I feel too exposed. I'm naked and you are completely dressed."

She smiled. "Well, I gave you the towel," she had to force her hands not to fly to the considerable bulge under said towel, "and we already assessed that my tank top here almost equals to no top at all."

Luke groaned. "Take your jeans off."

Lorelai gulped. "What?"

"I would feel better if you took your pants off," he clarified.

She looked at him agape, then cleared her throat. "I'm supposed to be the _giver_ here, so it's totally irrelevant if I'm fully dressed or completely naked."

He was staring at her, without saying anything. She knew he was very aroused: the towel she gave him couldn't hide that very obvious fact and she could see his chest rise and fall in rapid breaths. He was in a very vulnerable position, not only because he was almost completely naked, but also because of his legs position. Nonetheless his body emanated a very strong and masculine self-assurance.

Seeing that he was not going to say anything, she doubtfully said, "Well, I guess it's only fair. If you want, I can take my jeans off. The article was not clear about that piece of information, so I guess we can play it by ear." She slowly unbuttoned her pants, her eyes glued on his face, ready to catch any sign he might want to give her. When she undid her zip, he closed his eyes shut and panted, "Don't do it. I'm sorry. Bad idea."

She waited a beat, then closed her jeans again and said, "OK. Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's a massage right?" he asked, looking in her eyes again. She simply nodded. He turned his gaze to the ceiling over him. "Then it's better if I don't make my situation even worse."

The meaning of what he had said hit her like a ton of bricks. _He thinks that seeing me in my underwear would be too much for him. Oh my God! If he just knew how much he turns me on, with or without his clothes on!_ She swallowed hard, trying to regain her composure and to act in a more professional way. "Let's get started, then. No need to drag this on. The first very important thing is breathing. You should try to slow your breath down." She started taking slow, deep breaths, to demonstrate what she meant. "Like this." She went on breathing. "Deep, relaxed breathing. Try to breathe up in your lungs."

With that, she put both her hands on his chest and started massaging him with slow, circular movements. She noticed that he had completely stopped breathing, so she resumed her speech with a soft, soothing tone. "Don't forget the breathing part, Luke. That's essential for you to relax." She showed him how to breathe once again, while also taking the opportunity to try to calm herself a little, finding the feeling of his strong body under her hands intoxicating. "OK. Breathe in. Breathe out. Good." She went on massaging his chest while giving him instructions in a very soft voice. Then she slowly proceeded to his neck and shoulders, caressing and pressing into his tight muscles. "You are very tense, here. That's not good. Keep on breathing and relax. I'm gonna try to loosen your tight muscles." She saw that he was starting to relax, slightly closing his eyes, the new breathing pattern now almost natural to him. "You are doing very well, Luke. The article said that this massage allows the man to experience his softer, more receptive side, as opposed to his traditional doing and goal oriented mode. That's why I thought it could be useful: it should teach you to relax and wait for pleasure to find you, instead of feeling frustrated and in pain."

Luke softly moaned in appreciation and Lorelai felt every hair on her neck stand up. She blinked to refocus, then proceeded squeezing and caressing his arms, marveling at how perfect every inch of his body felt to her. "Very good. We both are supposed to relax into the massage. Go on breathing that way. Maybe I shouldn't talk that much, but you know me: I can't relax if I don't talk!" He smiled and that triggered her own smile.

She moved from his side to position herself between his legs, then started massaging his feet and slowly going up to his ankles, calves, and thighs. Because of his position, with legs spread apart and knees slightly bent, his inner thighs were exposed to Lorelai's touch and she felt him tensing and taking in a sharp breath when she started massaging that part of his body. "Don't lose your breathing pattern, Luke. Breathe in. Breathe out." She repeated, in an attempt to calm herself as well. "We're getting close to where it matters. Do you remember? It is called a Lingam massage, so that's where we are aimed." Never stopping her thigh massage, she studied attentively his face, ready to catch any sign of discomfort. She saw him frowning and braced herself for his upcoming question.

"I don't remember." He said.

"What is it that you don't remember?" she asked softly, still not stopping her hands movements.

"What's Lingam?" Luke asked, then wetted his lips and resumed his deep breathing pattern.

"Oh." Lorelai tried to calm her thumping heart, then answered, "As I told you, it's the Sanskrit word for the male sexual organ." She went on massaging, even if she felt Luke's eyes on her and she knew he had almost stopped breathing. She shot his face a rapid glance and saw that he was looking at her with wide eyes, agape, gasping. "You are messing with the breathing Luke. Remember: deep, relaxed breathing. Breathe in. Breathe out." She once again demonstrated how to breathe, never stopping massaging.

"Are you serious?" Luke choked at last. "You are going to give my… _Lingam_… a massage?"

Lorelai blushed but didn't stop. "Just breathe Luke. Relax. Do you trust me?"

"Yeah, of course I do, but…" he babbled.

"No buts." She looked into his eyes while her hands gently moved upwards, sliding under the towel, to the very northern part of his inner thighs. "You do trust me or you don't. If you do, let me try this thing. It surely is something we never tried before. Who knows? Maybe that's exactly what we need. These Orientals always seem to have all the right answers!" As Lorelai's hands proceeded under the towel, Luke's eyelids started fluttering, showing his internal debate between pleasure and reason.

"OK." He eventually surrendered, relaxing into her touch again.

"Good." She said. She went on massaging his thighs for a couple of minutes more, giving him the time he needed to completely relax again.

Now that they both knew what was next, she thought there was no need to explicitly tell him that she needed to remove the towel. She thought she could just try to do it without making him notice, but she wanted to be ready in the first place. So she reached for the bottle of body oil she had put on the right edge of the bed, her left hand still massaging his right hip under the towel, and she trapped the bottle between her knees, to make it more easily reachable. She resumed the massage to his hips and pubic area with both hands, moving the towel upwards with her wrists and forearm underneath it, then she started caressing his sides with long wide strokes, her movements completely exposing his groin area. She removed the towel from her arms quickly putting it aside on the bed, then poured a small quantity of oil on his shaft and testicles. She didn't want him to feel self-conscious, so she had already decided that she wouldn't say anything once she had him completely naked, but strangely enough, she didn't feel like talking at all at the moment. She was totally absorbed in what she was doing, astonished and thrilled to eventually be able to really touch him and watch him in all his glory.

She was surprised to find out that she could perfectly remember all the procedure she read only once on the magazine. She began gently massaging his testicles, taking care to not cause him pain in this sensitive area and trying to cause the area to relax. She spent a few minutes there, amazed by the changes in its consistency and in the shaft expansion and position caused by her massage. She proceeded to the area above the _Lingam_, on the pubic bone, then started massaging the area below it with very gentle strokes, knowing that it was a very delicate spot for a man.

When she thought that Luke was really relaxing into the massage, she eventually shifted her attention to his shaft. She poured some additional oil drops on it and started massaging it very slowly, with a soft yet firm grip. She heard Luke deeply moaning, so she could tell that he was enjoying what she was doing. She took a deep breath, then remembered that she was supposed to vary the speed and pressure of her massage, so she gently squeezed the base of his shaft with her right hand, pulled it up and slid it off, alternating the same movement with her left hand in a continuous, uninterrupted movement of her right and left hands. She took all the time she thought necessary to make it an enjoyable, relaxing experience, then, when she thought it was enough, she changed the direction of the massage by starting the squeeze at the head of his shaft and sliding down and off, still alternating with right and left hands.

She shot a glance at Luke's face and she saw that he was in complete bliss, eyes slightly closed, mouth half-open, his strong chest rising and falling in an even tempo. _God, I wish I could kiss those luscious lips of him! _she thought in the fog of her trance.

She wet her lips, not letting her thoughts break her focus, and proceeded massaging all around his shaft and its head, adjusting the amount of pressure based on his reactions. When she saw his hardness increase and his shaft start to twitch, she knew that he was close and she backed off, allowing it to soften a little, as the magazine article instructed. She repeated the same operation several times, bringing him close to the edge with her skillful hands, then backing off to allow him to experience an unexpected expansion of pleasure.

When she thought it was enough, she proceeded to the final phase of the massage, searching for what the article writer called "his sacred spot". She immediately found it with his left hand: a small indentation midway between his testicles and anus. While still massaging his shaft with her right hand, she very gently pushed on his sacred spot, trying not to be too intrusive and to make it enjoyable for him. She felt his shaft harden and expand in her right hand even more than she ever thought possible, then it started twitching and she knew that he was over the point of no return. She quickly put the towel over his torso, her right hand never stopping her movement, and then he came in long, hot spurts, immediately absorbed by the towel, groaning in extreme pleasure.

She went on gently caressing his shaft until he was completely spent, then whispered, "Don't move," and run to the bathroom to take a warm wet washcloth.

When she came back, he had already fallen asleep. She removed the towel from his torso, then allowed herself only a couple of minutes to watch this gorgeous man soundly sleeping at the center of her bed. She sighed and started to gently wipe his groin area with the washcloth, careful not to wake him up. _Oh Luke! I wish I could just cuddle with you and wait for you to wake up. But I can't. I have to go to Hartford to pick up Rory. _

She took a comforter from the linen closet outside her bedroom and covered him up. She sighed again. _It's a pity to cover such a body, but the magazine said that I had to cover you, keep you warm and allow you to rest quietly, so that's what I'll do._

She quickly got ready for her ride to Hartford putting a sweatshirt and a pair of sneakers on. _This will have to do. I don't have much time to primp. _She turned to Luke, smiling at his peaceful face. _I can't believe what I did to you. You really make me do wild things, Luke!_

She slowly bent towards him, hesitated just one moment, then planted a very light kiss on his forehead. "How is it that I'm often watching you in your sleep even if we've never slept together?" she whispered, smiling at his relaxed, content expression. _Yet,_ she added in her mind.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

Almost 45 minutes later, Luke woke up in Lorelai's bed, feeling extremely peaceful and relaxed. He stretched out his legs and arms, a smile hovering on his lips, and turned to his right, only to find a piece of paper with a message from Lorelai:

"Luke,

I had to go pick up Rory, but I didn't want to wake you up. If you can and if you want to, why don't you stay for a movie tonight? Rory and I will both be happy to have you around. Just remember to put something on: Rory is still too young to appreciate a naked man in the house. I know you are rolling your eyes at me now, so stop it.

See you later

Lorelai"

Still smiling, Luke spent a couple of minutes just staring at the piece of paper in his hands, reading it over and over again, trying to decide the best course of action. Then he folded the sheet, gathered his clothes from the floor and headed to the bathroom to get dressed.

When the Gilmore's Jeep approached their home, Lorelai's heart fell to the pits of her stomach. _He's gone. His truck is not here, so he is gone!_

Rory didn't notice her mother's change of mood and went on chattering about her day and her new schoolmates. When they entered the house, Rory flew to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and called, "Mom! Luke was here!"

"Yeah!" Lorelai answered, collapsing into an armchair. "How do you know?"

"He left coffee, and brownies, and a note for you on the kitchen table." Rory said, sticking her head out of the kitchen door.

"Really?" Lorelai sprang into the kitchen. "Let me see," she said, taking the note from the table.

"What was Luke doing here, anyway?" Rory asked while chewing a big bite of brownie.

"Fixing our porch." Lorelai said distractedly while reading Luke's note.

"What does it say?" Rory said, pointing at the note.

Lorelai answered, "It says: _I forgot to give you this while it was still warm, but I know you wouldn't like me to throw it away. Sorry._"

Rory giggled. "Yeah. He's right. You wouldn't have liked him to throw it away. We can reheat it in the microwave, I guess. Or we can use it to soften those old stiff Oreos we still have in the cupboard."

"Yeah." Lorelai couldn't believe it. Who left such a stupid note after such an intense afternoon? She turned the sheet and noticed another message written on its back:

"Lorelai,

I can't stay. Thanks for asking, though.

Luke"

She folded the note and put it in the back pocket of her jeans, slightly relieved. _That's better. Maybe not what I was hoping for, but I gotta love Luke's trademark terse style._

"So, reheated coffee, brownies and Oreos while watching _Operation Petticoat_. How does it sound?" Lorelai asked Rory, suddenly feeling more cheerful than a couple of minutes before.

"Good, but I don't know if I'll be able to watch the whole movie. I'm pretty worn out and tomorrow I'll have to wake up early for school."

"Oh, you are right! I forgot it was a school night! Maybe I could just leave all the goods for tomorrow morning, so that we'll have a pre-breakfast at home and then go to Luke's for a real one!" Lorelai suggested, feeling guilty for not recalling her daughter's schedule.

"Come on, mom! We both know that you won't be able to resist until tomorrow morning knowing that Luke's coffee and brownies are waiting for you in the kitchen. It's OK. I get it. Life is made of priorities and coffee and brownies just go before a plain daughter. Besides, I already had my sugar fix tonight. Go ahead, don't worry about me."

"Are you sure?" Lorelai asked tentatively.

"I'm positive," Rory assured her yawning, "I'd rather go to bed now."

"You know, I would absolutely love to share this with you, but I didn't have time to have dinner yet, so I really appreciate your sacrifice." Lorelai said, putting the cold coffee, the brownies and some paper towels on a small tray.

"Where are you taking your snack, mom? I thought you were going to watch _Operation petticoat_." Rory frowned.

"Naah. I'm not in the mood for a movie night alone. It sounds slightly pathetic. I'm taking the goodies upstairs. I still have a few emails to finish, so I'll eat these while working."

Rory giggled. "I never saw anyone so thrilled about writing emails. You must be under Luke's food spell."

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah. Must be Luke's spell." She took the tray with both hands and headed towards the kitchen door, putting a kiss on the top of Rory's head when she passed by her. "Sleep tight and don't forget to brush your teeth!"

"I know, I know. Good night mommy."

"Night Rory."

As soon as Lorelai entered her bedroom, memories of that same afternoon flooded to her mind. She noticed that he had made her bed, folding the comforter at the foot of the bed and putting the two towels in the bathroom sink, covered with soapy water. She smiled and put the tray on her nightstand. _So considerate!_ She took a large gulp of cold coffee. _Mmm, that's good even when it's cold!_ She swallowed a small bite of brownie. _Coffee and chocolate… that's the way to make a girl happy!_ Then she took her laptop and sat cross-legged on her bed. She turned her laptop on and waited impatiently for it to be ready to operate, all the while drinking her coffee and eating small bites of brownies.

She opened her instant messaging application and noticed that Luke was online.

Lorelai: "Hey!"

Luke: "Hi."

They both looked at their monitors, waiting for the other to make a move, not really knowing what to add, yet eager to know what the other was thinking or feeling.

Lorelai: "I didn't think you would be online so late."

Luke: "I was hoping you would be."

Lorelai: "Were you? Wow, I'm flattered."

Luke: "What about you? Why are you online so late?"

Lorelai: "Well, that's a totally different story, and a pretty long one, so I don't know if you want to read all that crap so late at night, but the bottom line is: I was hoping you would be."

They both smiled and waited.

Lorelai: "You wrote you couldn't stay."

Luke: "Yeah. I see you got the note."

Lorelai: "Yes, and thanks for the coffee and brownies. They were just perfect for my late dinner."

Luke: "I'm glad you appreciated them, but they were not meant for dinner! You should eat something with a real nutritional value for your main meals."

Lorelai: "Yeah, yeah… Don't try to change the subject, Mister. Why couldn't you stay?"

Luke: "A couple of reasons. First of all, I had to go back to the diner. Caesar was supposed to leave earlier today and I was already late."

Lorelai: "OK. Other reasons?"

Luke: "Yes."

Lorelai: "Tell me."

Luke: "We didn't have the chance to talk after the massage thing. I didn't know if that was _effective_, if you know what I mean. I didn't want to make experiments when Rory was home. I didn't want to be _like that _when she was around."

Lorelai smiled. _Here he is again, worrying about my little girl. How could he be cuter than this? _She waited to give him the possibility to add something else if he wanted, but seeing that he was not writing, she typed: "Was it?"

Luke: "Was it what?"

Lorelai: "Was it effective?"

Luke: "I don't know. I should hear your voice."

Lorelai: "Do you want me to call you on the phone?"

Luke: "Not tonight. I'm exhausted. I don't think I could take it if it hadn't been effective."

Lorelai hesitated a few seconds, shifted a little on the bed, tugged nervously a lock of her hair, then wrote the very question she was dying to make him answer: "How did it feel?"

Luke blushed. Talking about this kind of thing surely didn't make him feel comfortable, let alone writing about it. Furthermore, that was Lorelai he was talking to, and this simple fact added a whole additional burden to his discomfort. But he knew there was no way to pretend he didn't understand what she meant, so he typed: "I think you know the answer. You were there."

Lorelai: "I was there, but I don't know the answer."

Luke: "I'm not good with words."

Lorelai let out a loud shout in aggravation, plunging her face into a pillow so that Rory wouldn't be scared to death by her cry, then tried to calm down enough to write: "Come on. I just want to know if it was good and how it made you feel."

Luke: "Good? No. I don't think good is the right word here."

Lorelai immediately felt awfully guilty and desolate and typed: "Oh my God. I'm so sorry!"

Seeing that she had completely misunderstood his message, Luke forced himself to write: "Not just good. I'd rather say amazing, totally unexpected, and physically and emotionally intense."

Lorelai took her hands off the keyboard for a moment, amazed by what her eyes were reading over and over again, then tentatively wrote: "Wow. Really?"

Luke: "Yeah. I don't know how to feel about it."

Lorelai: "Oh. Why?"

Luke hesitated, not really knowing how to write down all his conflicting emotions and insecurities regarding his relationship with Lorelai, then decided to write: "Don't want to talk about it like this. I'd rather talk about it in person."

Lorelai: "OK. Good. Do you think I can come to the diner tomorrow for breakfast?"

Luke: "You always come to the diner for breakfast."

Lorelai: "Yeah - and I'm rolling my eyes here - but usually you're not around. I'm asking you if it's OK for you if I come to the diner while you are there."

Luke pondered for a moment, then wrote: "Yeah, do that. We'll have a chance to see if the massage thing worked and we'll talk when Rory has gone to school."

Lorelai: "Great. See you tomorrow, then."

Luke: "Yes. Tomorrow. Good night Lorelai."

Lorelai: "Good night Luke."

She closed her laptop and went to the bathroom. She opened the warm water in the bathtub and poured her favorite bubble bath in it. _I so deserve a warm perfumed bath! Tomorrow I want to be the most beautiful girl in the world, just for my man! Well, at least for the man I hope will be mine soon._

"Rooory! Come on, my dearest offspring! You don't want to be late, do you?" Lorelai was standing near the door, one hand on its handle, her purse in the other, impatient to go to Luke's. That morning, she had woken up early in a very good mood and had gotten ready in what was an awfully short time compared to her standards: she had already decided what to wear and how to style her hair the night before, so the whole primping operation didn't took a long time. She wanted to be beautiful, but not too sexy (_No need to further underline that aspect: I think it's pretty clear that we are physically attracted by each other_), so she put on a light flowery dress that stopped just above her knees with a small pink cardigan that covered its close-fitting bodice. Something bright and nice, but neither too revealing nor too dressy. She applied just some mascara and some lip gloss, then used a silver barrette to pin back some of her curls out of her eyes. Her sparkling blue eyes and her insuppressible smile made that simple attire look irresistible.

"Rooory! Come on baby! Mom is starving here! Remember: I didn't even had a real dinner yesterday!" she called once again, her patience wearing thinner by the second.

Rory opened the door of her room, still slipping into her school uniform jacket. "Keep your pants on! What's got into you this morning? I'm not going to be late at all. You are awfully early." She stopped talking and looked at her mother. "Wow! You look very nice today!"

"Hey! Why are you so surprised? I thought I always looked nice!" Lorelai replied indignantly, then grabbed Rory's arm and started pulling her towards the door. "Come on now! I want my breakfast!"

Rory giggled. "Calm down, I have to take my backpack. I can't go without it."

"Quick, quick. Remember? Starving mom in front of you. I won't be that nice anymore when I'll be dead of starvation!"

Rory rolled her eyes at her mother's antics, hung her backpack over one shoulder, then said, "Ok, Queen of melodrama. Let's go."

They both exited the house at a fast pace, Lorelai almost running. "Hurry up, Rory! I want to be there in time to grab a couple of extra danishes to bring with me to the Inn."

"Are you crazy?" Rory asked while climbing into the Jeep, "Sookie will never forgive you if you bring Luke's food into her realm."

"Yeah, you are right. Maybe I'll just take a couple of extra danishes to eat during the journey to the Inn."

Rory giggled amused. "Mom! It's only a five minute journey. It's not like you are going to spend the day in your car!"

Lorelai smiled. "One can never know what the crowded streets of Stars Hollow might bring!"

They reached the main square, parked the Jeep and walked towards Luke's diner.

"The diner is packed!" Lorelai exclaimed surprised, spotting an unusually large crowd from outside the windows.

"Must be because it's almost 12 hours before our usual breakfast time: all Stars Hollow is still in there having dinner." Rory answered in a polemical tone.

"Look who's extremely grumpy this morning!" Lorelai observed opening the diner's door.

"Why are you so unnaturally cheerful that early in the morning? That's against every Gilmore rule!" Rory complained, while crashing onto a chair at their usual table by the window.

"Well, spring is on the way, I've got a nice dress on, a pretty and ill-tempered daughter, and I'm seconds away from enjoying the most wonderful coffee on earth and a well-deserved breakfast. What can I ask more from life?"

Miss Patty heard the Gilmore's conversation from a nearby table and interjected with a smirk, "I don't know about you, Sugar, but I surely wouldn't mind a side of that hunk in flannel with my breakfast!"

Lorelai's hands immediately flew to cover Rory's ears and she exclaimed in fake shock. "Patty! Not in front of my little innocent angel!"

Miss Patty winked. "I do believe that it's never too early for a girl to learn to recognize a real beauty under a scruffy coat. Don't you agree?"

Lorelai smiled and shook her head. "You're incorrigible!" She looked around, then asked to Miss Patty "Have you seen him this morning, anyway?"

"Oh yes! You know I can't work in the morning without my eye candy fix. He was here, pouring me coffee right now, when you entered the diner. He shouldn't be far. Why? Did you need to ask him anything in particular?" Miss Patty asked curious, smelling a juicy gossip.

"No, nothing special. I'm just eager to get my breakfast." Lorelai answered casually.

"Yeah" Rory added, slightly annoyed. "This morning mom is the most eager person on earth! She made me run here awfully early. I don't know if I'll ever recover."

Half an hour later, Lorelai was feeling less cheerful and a little anxious: she and Rory had eaten their breakfast, drank their coffee, and chatted some more with Miss Patty and the other regulars. Rory had greeted her mother and the other people in the diner and had left to go catch her bus, but still there was no sign of Luke. Apparently, Caesar was in charge. At least, it was him who took their orders and brought them their breakfast. That made Lorelai think about the first week after Luke's discharge, when she thought he was avoiding her, and she didn't like the panic sensation that came with that realization.

She took her purse and walked to the counter, where Caesar was preparing a fresh pot of coffee. "Hey Caesar, where's the boss today?" she asked.

"Hey Lorelai. He's in the kitchen." He got closer to Lorelai and whispered, "Not in his best mood, I'm afraid."

"Oh." Lorelai didn't know what to do with that piece of information. She was sure that Luke had told her to go to the diner when he was there so that they could talk. _Maybe I should let him know that I'm here and that Rory has already gone._

She cleared her throat. "Would you mind telling him that I'm here? I have to ask him something."

Caesar shot her a dirty look. "Do you really want me to do that? He didn't seem in a mood for chatting."

"Yes, please. You can put all the blame on me. He knows for sure that if I get an idea in my head, I hold onto it like a dog with a bone, and I never let go until I get what I want." Lorelai fluttered her eyelashes at him. "Please!"

"OK, OK. As you wish. At your own risk!" Caesar entered the kitchen, leaving Lorelai waiting at the counter, and after a few moments, a very frowning Luke appeared behind the counter, wiping his hands with a cloth.

Lorelai felt suddenly nervous. "Hey. I thought we agreed that we would talk today."

"Not a good day to talk," Luke growled, never meeting her gaze.

"What's wrong?" she asked concerned.

Luke sighed, then threw the cloth on the counter and crossed his arms on his chest. "You know what's wrong," he said, his eyes restlessly shifting from one place to the other, in apparent discomfort.

Lorelai immediately understood. _Of course! How could I just completely remove that problem from my mind? _She raised her eyebrows and gestured towards his groin area. "You mean….?"

He quickly sprinted forward, grabbing her hand to stop her wide gestures, then hissed through his clenched teeth, "Could you please be more obvious? Maybe someone has missed the main topic of our discussion!"

Lorelai blushed. "Sorry. I was not thinking."

Luke let her hand go and crossed his arms over his chest once again. "Yeah. I noticed." They remained silent, without moving, Lorelai regretting her former superficiality caused by her eagerness to be with him again, and not knowing what to say or even if she was allowed to say anything at all.

After a short time, Luke sighed and said in a sad voice, "Listen Lorelai, I'm sorry. I'm just sick of this situation. I'm sick of my incapacity to solve it, I'm sick of feeling like a dog in heat, and I'm especially sick of talking about it."

Lorelai was starting to panic, realizing that he was going to shut her out. She knew she had to react quickly if she didn't want him to start hiding from her again, so she told him, "Meet me in the storeroom and close the door once you are in," and she headed towards the storeroom without turning to check if he was following her.

But he did follow her. He entered the storeroom not knowing what was on her mind, fearing that she might want to talk. He already knew that talking to her was pure torture, so he didn't want to go through that again. He entered and closed the door behind him, just as she instructed, but then he spotted her: she was in the right hand corner of the room, one hand propped against the wall to balance herself, while the other hand was sliding down her slightly backwards bent right leg, slipping off what looked like a pale pink lacy thong from under her dress.

He quickly turned towards the door, thinking that he couldn't be supposed to observe such a private moment and exclaimed, "Jeez!"

She smiled and walked close to him, the front of her body now only a few inches away from his back. "Luke," she whispered into his ear.

He closed his eyes, hypnotized by her soft voice and by her warm breath on his neck. Seeing that he was not trying to escape, she walked even closer, so that her chest was now pressing into his back, her right cheek resting on his right shoulder, and she slid both her arms under his own, embracing him from behind. Her left hand traveled up his torso, stopping right above his fast beating heart, while her right hand tentatively started to travel south, caressing his tight abs at first, then clearly aiming at his groin. He took hold of her right hand with his right one, effectively stopping it before it could reach its goal, then said panting, "What are you doing?"

She pressed herself against his back even more, tightening her embrace and squeezing his hand, then answered under her breath, "The talking thing doesn't work. The massage thing doesn't work. The avoiding each other thing is simply stupid and will bring us nowhere. Why don't we just take what we want, Luke?"

He couldn't believe what was happening. His head was spinning. This couldn't be real. Was she implying what he thought she was implying? He was far too turned on to be able to think. His left hand joined her hand over his chest and he felt his own furious heartbeat. He started caressing both her hands, trying to control his breathing and panted, "What is it that you want, Lorelai?"

"You," she simply exhaled, then started planting light kisses on the right side of his neck and nibbling at his ear. He slowly turned into her arms to face her and looked intently into her eyes. He framed her face with his hands, lightly caressing it with his thumbs and asked again, "Are you sure that you want this?"

She batted her eyelids once, feeling dizzy and lightheaded, then looked back into his intense eyes and answered in a whisper, "Oh Luke. You have no idea!" His lips crashed against hers in an immediately passionate kiss. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth, running the tip of his tongue over it, then slightly tilted his head to gain a better angle and she immediately gave him access, opening her mouth and welcoming his probing tongue. He was devouring her and she was so engulfed by his passion that she completely forgot there still was a world outside of their embrace.

He was holding her tight against his hard body, his right hand splayed on the small of her back and his left hand slightly above. She was running her hands on his back, under his flannel and T-shirt, exploring that part of his body that she still didn't know, dying to touch more, to feel more. His hardness was pressing against her lower abdomen and was driving her crazy. She moaned loudly into his mouth, completely oblivious of where they were, then panted, "Now Luke. I can't wait any longer," while he attacked her neck with hot open-mouthed kisses. She started to undo his belt, but he stopped her hands once again.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He kissed her again, one hand blocking her hands movement, the other hand buried in her thick curls, desperate to get to a deeper level, opening his mouth even more, suckling her tongue and probing with his own. When he heard her whimper again, he stopped kissing her, resting his forehead against her own, caressing her neck, his eyes closed, trying to control his labored breath.

Lorelai thought she was going to lose her mind. "What's wrong Luke? Why are you stopping?"

"I don't want this," he breathed.

"What?" she screamed, incredulous, and took a step backwards.

He goggled his eyes in panic, suddenly aware of the sound of what he just said and he quickly added, "No, I do want it! But not like this."

"Do you think you can clarify? I feel awfully exposed here," Lorelai murmured, her lower lip starting to tremble.

Luke immediately took her in his arms again, holding her tight, caressing her hair. "Sorry. I can't think straight, let alone talk." He took a couple of deep breaths. "You and me. I want this."

"Do you?" Lorelai asked in a small voice.

Luke looked in her eyes to be sure that she wouldn't misunderstand what he was trying to tell her and said, "Of course I do. I want you and you know it. I just don't want it to be a quickie in the diner storeroom."

She giggled. "You just said quickie!"

He rolled his eyes at her, then held her tight again, savoring the feeling of her soft, luscious body against his own, finding both comfort and agony in her embrace. "God, what I'm putting myself into!"

She smiled against his shoulder, still feeling tingly all over her body. "So what do you want it to be?"

"I want to take you out, maybe dinner, a movie," he answered, still breathing hard.

"Like a real date?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah. Would you prefer a fake one?"

"Only if it could get you faster into my bed," she answered. That made him laugh hard.

She was amazed. It was not often that Luke Danes laughed that openly. And this time she was the one to make him laugh. She was amazed and proud. "You are beautiful," she blurted out.

He stopped laughing and looked at her fondly, tucking under her ear a lock of hair that had escaped her barrette. "You are amazing," he said. He caressed her cheek and his gaze lingered upon her swollen lips. She relaxed into his touch and closed her eyes waiting, and he kissed her softly again, not trusting himself to be able to stop if he started a more passionate kiss.

They were interrupted by a loud knock on the door and by Caesar's voice calling, "Luke! Everything OK? I need more cheddar in the kitchen. Can you bring me some when you come?"

They jumped apart and blushed as if Caesar had caught them and Luke called back, "OK. I'm coming!"

Lorelai chuckled and whispered, "Not yet, unfortunately," while lightly brushing against the front of Luke's pants.

He moaned in response and slightly closed his eyes murmuring, "Don't do that. Too dangerous. We both have to go."

She smirked and whispered in his ear, "I could stay if you wanted me to," her right hand caressing his neck and ear.

He panted. "You know I want you to stay, but we can't do it now."

"It's a pity," she pouted.

"Yeah," he exhaled.

She looked into his eyes. "When?"

"Tonight at seven?" he asked.

She smiled. "OK." She forced herself to give him a simple peck and loosen her embrace. "I guess you should take that cheddar for Caesar."

He sighed.

"Do you want to keep these?" She asked picking up her thong from the floor and swinging it on her index finger with an impish smirk.

He groaned. "I guess you'd better put them on. I don't like the thought of you going commando."

She raised one eyebrow. "You don't like it, huh?"

He rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

"Yes, my handsome Othello." She bent forward at her waist and raised one foot to put her underwear back on.

Luke quickly turned away from her, muttering, "Jeez, Lorelai. Can't you do it in the toilet? I need one minute to regroup here."

She smiled and carefully completed her task. "Sorry. I didn't want to walk into the diner with my undies in my hand. I'm done now. You can look."

He turned towards her, his eyes an intense pool of blue desire, his hands automatically flying to her waist and slowly caressing her sides. "How am I supposed to let you go?" he asked hoarsely.

She closed her eyes, overwhelmed with longing and whispered, "I don't know it myself."

At that moment, Caesar loudly knocked on the door again. "Luke, please, I really need a hand."

Luke let his hands slide down her hips to go resting by his sides and he balled them into fists to resist the urge to touch her again and called, "I'll be right there. Searching for some Cheddar." He stepped backwards to put some distance between them, then held her right hand, brought it to his lips and put the softest of kisses on her palm.

She cupped his stubble covered cheek with the very same hand and softly said, "I must go. Shall I wait for you at the Crap Shack tonight?"

"Yes," he answered just as softly.

She smiled and opened the storeroom door, then turned towards him and added, "See you at seven."

He smiled back and just nodded, watching her exit the room in awe at her breathtaking beauty. _Wow! It looks like I have a date with Lorelai!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

Nervously biting her fingernails, Lorelai was talking on the phone with her friend Sookie.

"Sookie, I desperately need your help. I should be getting ready for my date with Luke, but I don't know where to start! Usually, when I need a fashion advice, I just ask Rory, but I can't ask Rory about what to wear on this date," Lorelai exclaimed in despair.

"Why not?"

"Because she's my daughter and because she's too young to know what could turn Luke on. I want to wear something that he will want to rip off me as soon as I open the door," she said, starting to rummage through her clothes.

"Lorelai, come on. This is Luke we are talking about!"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's Luke. And I thought it was now clear that I feel _very _attracted by him. I know that you and Rory may think that my relationship with him is too deep and complex to just think about getting him laid, but I've been lusting after him for far too long now, so that's exactly what's on my mind at the moment." Still rummaging through her clothes and getting increasingly impatient towards her apparently inadequate wardrobe, she added, "Actually, that's been on my mind almost every day for quite a long time, and it's getting extremely frustrating."

Sookie giggled. "OK, OK, try to cool down a little. Anyway, this is not what I meant. What I meant is: Luke would want to rip your clothes off you even if you were wearing a trash bag, no makeup and were having a bad hair day."

Lorelai smiled, feeling a little less insecure. "Do you think so?"

"I don't _think_ so, honey, I know it for sure. All Stars Hollow knows it. You are the only one who still thinks that you have to struggle to seduce him. Now try not to dress too sexy or all you'll get tonight will be a handsome man with a heart attack."

Lorelai giggled. "I'll do my best." Then she added, "Do you have any suggestion? He'd already seen all my outfits. That's the drawback of dating your best friend!"

"I know. But I think that if you wear a dress, you can't go wrong. I would suggest that black dress with lace adorned short sleeves and V-neck. It's sexy but classy and not too revealing. It shows you care enough about this date to put an effort into being prettier than usual, but it's not slutty."

"Hey!" Lorelai exclaimed indignantly, "I don't own any slutty attire! I'm just good at slutterizing a perfectly innocent piece of clothing!"

Sookie giggled. "Exactly what I meant. Now go get ready, otherwise you'll be late and we don't want this, do we?"

"Oh no, we don't want this at all!" Lorelai answered, suddenly anxious. "I've been physically and psychologically ready for this date for more than one month. It would be really stupid if I was late now that I can eventually have what I was wishing for. I'd better get dressed. Bye Sook. You're just my regular life saver!"

"I know. Bye honey. Be sure to give me a phone call tomorrow. I want all the juicy details!"

"Sure thing. Let me go now. Bye bye." Lorelai hung up the phone and hastily took the black dress, a black lacy push up bra and matching thong from her wardrobe. _Classy on the outside, slutty on the inside!_ she thought with a devilish smirk, then disappeared in her bathroom.

Only half an hour later, Lorelai was ready for her date and was nervously walking up and down the dining room. "What time is it Rory?"

Rory rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Mom! It's only 6.45. He's not late yet. It's you who are early. Again."

Lorelai stopped in front of her daughter, who was sitting on the couch, trying to read a book. "What do you think about my dress? Do you think it is too dressy? And about my hair? Should I tie it or should I leave it loose?"

"You are perfect! Why are you so nervous? It's Luke! You've known each other for years. He's seen you with bad hair, dirty T-shirts, without any make up and yet he still wants to take you out on a date! I don't think there can be any doubt about the fact that he likes you."

"Maybe. Sookie said something in the same vein, earlier."

"Sookie is a wise woman." Rory solemnly declared.

"Tell me again: when are you going to Lane's?" Lorelai asked, torn between her need to be there for her daughter and her eagerness to be with Luke.

"I'll go as soon as Luke comes pick you up. I want to see you guys all dolled up for your first date. That's so cute!" she smiled. At last she had accepted the fact that her mother really wanted to date Luke and was starting to like the idea of him being even more involved in their lives.

"He's here!" Lorelai exclaimed hearing the sound of his truck parking in front of their house. She ran to the door, grabbing her purse along the way and calling, "Rory, I'm going! I'll see you tomorrow! Say hi to Mrs. Kim."

"Aren't you going to let him knock on the door at least?" Rory asked, stupefied.

"Naah. What's the use of waiting any longer? I've waited long enough!" And with that, she opened the door and exited into the night.

Luke was leaning against his truck, arms folded over his chest, knowing that he was early and also knowing that Lorelai didn't like her dates to be early because she was always late. He had tried to watch some sports on TV at his place, but he couldn't focus on the game and was irresistibly drawn to her house. So he thought that he could as well go there and wait in her yard for a few minutes before knocking on the door, trying to cool down a little in the meantime.

He was happy to be there, but he also felt slightly nervous. All those years waiting for the right moment to make his move caused him to feel as anxious as a little boy on his first day of school. This was Lorelai, and he knew that she probably was the love of his life. He didn't want to screw it up. That stupid story about her voice's effect upon his body was bad enough to add any other unpleasant episodes to the list of embarrassing things he had to cover up. _Talking about covering up, maybe it's better if I button my jacket up. I can't ask a girl not to talk at all during our first date, especially if that girl is Lorelai Gilmore!_

He heard the front door open and was surprised to see Lorelai in the light of the porch, calling her goodbyes to Rory. He checked the time on his watch, confirming that they were both early, then walked towards her.

"Hi. I'm early, I know. I tried to be late, but didn't manage," he said as he climbed the porch steps.

She shot him a beaming smile that made his heart skip a beat and answered, "You are not early. You are just perfect." She took in his unusual slack and dark shirt attire, his freshly shaven face and his combed-back hair, and added under her breath, "And you look very good, if I may add."

He took her left hand and brought it to his lips, murmuring against her soft and perfumed skin, "You look beautiful."

The feeling of his soft and warm lips on her hand sent a shiver of anticipation down her spine and she came closer to him, staring directly into his eyes and reducing the distance between their bodies to nothing, clearly inviting him to kiss her slightly open lips. Their still linked hands were now resting on his chest. He got lost in her sparkling blue eyes and slowly brought his other hand to the small of her back, drawing her even closer. He closed his eyes and moved his lips to the right corner of her mouth, capturing a very small portion of her upper lip with the softest of kisses. Then his lips hovered over hers. He paused, breathing her breath and savoring the thrill of expectation. She waited motionless, completely unable to move, relishing the feeling of his strong arm and hand supporting her, and happy to abandon herself to his magic.

When he couldn't wait any longer, he kissed her with a long, soft kiss, his right hand eventually letting go her hand on his chest and slowly caressing her spine, causing goose bumps on her skin. Her hands went at the nape of his neck, caressing it and playing with his hair. They both angled their heads slowly in opposite directions, slightly opening their mouths and breathing each other's breath, lips caressing lips. Luke's tongue was the first one to dart out of his mouth, its tip tentatively running over Lorelai's waiting lips. She whimpered and opened her mouth wider to fully receive his tongue. He immediately deepened the kiss, his eager tongue now boldly sliding inside her mouth, exploring and playing with her velvety tongue.

She was feeling both extremely weak and extremely aroused. She thought she might faint from pleasure, yet she wanted more. His hands were beginning to slowly roam over her body when the door opened and Rory exited the house. They immediately jumped apart, their faces flushed both from embarrassment and excitement.

"Oh. I didn't think you were still here." Rory said, pretending not to have noticed that they had been making out on the porch. "I'm going to Lane's."

Luke cleared his throat. "Do you need a ride?"

Rory smiled. "No, thank you Luke. It's your first date. You don't want it to start by giving me a ride to Lane's, and I prefer to walk, believe me!"

"Are you sure?" Luke insisted.

"Yup. Thanks though. I appreciate the offer." She arranged her backpack on her right shoulder, then waved them goodbye. "Good night Luke. Good night mom. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night Rory," they both answered, each in his own version of a casual tone. They watched in silence the young girl leaving, then turned to face each other again, compellingly attracted to each other, but still too shy to immediately fling themselves in each other's arms.

Luke took Lorelai's left hand again, softly caressing it, without daring to look at her for fear of not being able to resist her, and asked in a deep low voice, "Shall we go?"

Lorelai came closer to him, staring at his inviting lips and whispered, not sure whether she would be able to talk normally, "Why don't we jump to the goodnight kiss part now? It seems that we have some good talent in that field. We should take advantage of that."

Luke smiled and shook his head. "If I kiss you again, I don't think I'll be able to stop."

"Who told you I ever wanted you to stop?" Lorelai asked huskily.

"I have to take you to dinner, Lorelai."

Lorelai was getting closer and closer to Luke, her gaze still glued on his lips. She could feel the heat radiating from his body and hear his fast breathing. Knowing that she was the cause of his excitement gave her the boldness she needed to try to lure him into another kiss. "Later," she said.

"Later could be too late for dinner." Luke countered weakly, not really wanting to fight her advance.

"Mmm, getting cocky! I like it!" she smirked.

"Lorelai, please, let me do it my way," he pleaded, knowing that he couldn't resist her for much longer.

She shifted her gaze to his eyes and saw that he was serious, so she smiled sheepishly and babbled, "I'm sorry. You are right. I didn't even have lunch today, so I guess it's better if we have dinner first."

He frowned. "Why didn't you have lunch?"

She smiled with downcast eyes. "Why do you think it was? Of course I was too excited to eat."

They started walking towards his truck, Luke still holding her hand. "Now you're just teasing me," he said, unable to believe that the mere thought of their date could make Lorelai Gilmore skip her lunch. He opened the truck door and waited for her to be positioned on the seat, discreetly appreciating the view of her beautiful legs climbing into his truck.

"You are wrong, my handsome knight. I'm not teasing you," she said and brought her right hand to cup his face, gazing into his intense blue eyes. They stared into each other's eyes motionless, except for her thumb, which was lightly caressing his smooth cheek.

"Plant one on her, already!" Babette's raspy voice came from the next door.

"Jeez!" Luke rolled his eyes making Lorelai giggle. "This town will drive me crazy!" He closed the truck door on Lorelai's side, circled the truck and climbed onto his seat.

He dry-washed his face with his right hand and sighed. "Do you think she saw the whole porch thing?"

"That's highly probable. I bet she heard you parking your truck and she ran to her window." Lorelai answered, amused by his apparent discomfort.

He snorted. "We are not even out of your yard and in half an hour all Stars Hollow will know that we are dating."

"And making out on my porch. Don't forget the making out part," she said, enthusiastically nodding her head up and down.

Much to her surprise, he turned towards her, a faint smile turning up the corner of his lips. "Couldn't forget about that part even if I tried. And I'm not trying very hard."

She suddenly felt overheated and drop her gaze on his lips once more. _God, when did he become so sexy? _She tried to smile back, but wasn't sure about the result. She just wanted to resume their making out session as soon as possible.

He cleared his throat, then shifted his gaze to the keys in his hands and started the truck. "We'd better go if we don't want to lose our reservation," he muttered.

"OK," she whispered, sitting sideways, her left shoulder and her head leaning against the seat backrest, unable to stop looking at his profile, taking in every little detail. _Oh my! A couple of kisses and I feel like a girly lovesick teenager. How am I supposed to get through a whole date? _Her gaze shifted from his handsome face to his Adam's apple, which was bobbing in his throat. That made her smile because it showed that he was not as casual as he pretended to be. The first button of his shirt was undone and she had to trap her hands under her thighs to physically prevent them running to the other buttons and exposing his chest to her greedy eyes and hands. She could see his small nipples pushing against his shirt, and his strong pecs moving up and down with his labored breathing. She then knew for sure that he was as turned on as she was, but decided against glancing towards his groin for further confirmation. That would make it impossible for her to restrain from touching him.

Noticing that she was uncharacteristically silent, he shot her a quick glance. "Are you OK? You're very quiet," he asked.

She smiled. "I'm fine." She pondered for a moment how to make him understand what she was feeling, then simply added, "I think I'm just very happy."

It required all his willpower not to abruptly stop the truck in the middle of the street and hold her in his arms kissing her senseless. "Give me your hand," he asked, noticing that both her hands were hidden under her thighs, in what looked like a childish pose. She complied. He brought her hand to the center of his firm chest, right over his heart, which was furiously thumping against his ribcage. "Can you feel that? This is what you do to me." She unfastened her seatbelt and moved closer to him, laying her head on his right shoulder, her hand never leaving his chest. "Luke," she whispered in his neck, conveying all her affection in his short name.

"What?" he asked hoarsely.

"Nothing. Just Luke." She sighed.

They drove in silence, bathing in the bliss of each other's presence and in the sweet torture of being so close, yet still too far from each other.

When they reached the restaurant, Luke turned the ignition off, then circled Lorelai's shoulders with his right arm and curled his long left hand fingers around Lorelai's right hand, still positioned over his chest. He brushed his chin over Lorelai's soft hair and whispered, "Here we are. Are you ready for dinner?"

"Not yet. One more minute. I really like it here: it's so cozy!" She slightly shifted her head to put her nose and mouth closer to his neck and she inhaled deeply. "Mmm. You smell so good. Better than any restaurant would. Do you think they could bring us dinner in your truck?"

He smiled and dropped a soft kiss on the top of her head, lightly squeezing her in his sideways embrace. "I doubt it." Holding her, knowing that she wanted to be with him as well, and not being able to make love to her right then and there was killing him, but he was determined to go through all the first date ritual. _At least I owe her that much._

She sighed loudly, in fake annoyance. "Then I guess we should go inside. It would be very bad if we died from starvation in front of a restaurant."

"Yup. Very bad advertising for the restaurant and a very bad ending for such a promising first date." He joked.

She pushed herself upright, feeling dizzy from their proximity, an amused smile adorning her lips and softly bit her lower lip, suggestively looking at him from under her eyelashes. "Let's go then. I'm really eager to get to the dessert."

He blushed furiously and turned away from her gaze, pretending to be very busy unfastening his seatbelt and retreiving the ignition keys. He exited the truck, checked that the two buttons of his jacket were still closed to hide the front of his slacks that had been getting increasingly tight since their make out session, and circled the vehicle to open Lorelai's door.

She smiled at him. "Mmm, very gentleman-like. I could get used to this treatment."

He sheepishly returned her smile, then closed the door after she exited the truck, and guided her towards the restaurant's entrance, his right hand on the small of her back, both really enjoying the delicate yet firm touch of his big hand on her back, an enticing promise of forthcoming intimacy. The waiter showed them their table and they both painfully missed the contact when Luke removed his hand to push her chair slightly away from the table and allow her to sit down. She sat, then grabbed his wrist. "Where are you going?"

He looked down at her, confused. "I'm going to sit on my chair, right in front of you."

She pouted. "That's too far away."

He smiled. "Not really. Let me show you." He sat on the opposite side of the small round table, where his place was set, her hand still on his wrist. "See? We can still hold hands, if we want to. It's not that far away." He started to stroke her hand.

She was still pouting. "But there's a whole table between us. Too much hard material." She smirked mischievously. "And not the kind of hard material I would enjoy."

He reddened again and warned her, "Lorelai, behave!"

She bent her head to hide a smug smile, happy to have the power of making him blush, but not wanting to rub his nose in it. She then started to play with his fingers and slightly frowned, once again searching for the right words to tell him. "I want you to know that usually I'm not like this. I'm not a clingy, girly, mawkish kind of girl. Usually I'm funny, and flirty, and very talkative."

He smirked. "Yeah. I kind of know that."

She ignored the interruption, "But tonight it's different. This is not a standard first date. Not only because we already are good friends, but also because we've been through a lot lately, and I feel like I eventually get to really be with you. You know, with you being at the hospital, and the other things…" she gestured vaguely, hinting at the problem they tried to solve together during the last weeks, "I was so scared to lose you. I was really terrified." She giggled. "Sorry. So much for trying not to be sappy!"

He smiled back and squeezed her hand. "It's OK. I feel honored to have made the acquaintance with your sappy side. Besides, I must confess that I tend to be sappy myself when it comes to you." He shifted his gaze to their joined hands and softly added, "I was scared too." For a moment it seemed that he still had something to say, but the waiter arrived to take their orders and they had to focus on their menus.

When the waiter left, Lorelai asked in a casual tone, "How is it going tonight, anyway?"

Luke shifted uncomfortably on his chair, then asked, "You mean…?"

Lorelai smiled, amused by the fact that he still felt awkward talking about what had been their main worry for weeks. "Yes. I mean _that_."

"Well, I don't know." Luke babbled.

Lorelai stared at him in disbelief. "What does it mean that you don't know? You didn't notice? That would be really strange, because I must tell you that it is _very_ hard not to notice. I can only imagine how hard it must be for you!" She giggled. "Sorry. Bad wording."

Luke cleared his throat and slid his index finger into the neck of his shirt, suddenly too tight to allow him to properly breathe. "It's not exactly that I didn't notice. It's just that tonight, you know, there could be several plausible causes concurring to… _that_."

Lorelai blushed. "Oh. Of course. I officially feel like the biggest idiot on earth now."

"You're not. Just the most adorable idiot on earth." Luke gruffly said.

Lorelai smiled. "I don't know whether I should feel flattered or outraged."

"I like to keep you on your toes." He mumbled in a deep sexy voice.

Lorelai leaned forward, crossed her legs and slid her upper leg between his legs, up and down his calves, whispering, "Yeah, you make that sexy voice at your own risk, Mr. Danes. You know I'm not the most patient of women and I'm pretty close to jump you right here and now."

Luke immediately closed his legs, trapping her foot between them and preventing her from going on with her teasing caress. "Jesus, Lorelai. I really don't need any further help to get turned on. Do you know how difficult it is to feel like I do and pretend that I'm as cool as a cucumber?" He hissed through clenched teeth.

Lorelai took a deep breath and exhaled, "Yeah. I suppose I do. I don't think I ever wanted anyone as badly as I want you, Luke."

They stared into each other's eyes, breathing heavily, oblivious of all the people around them. Luke slowly released Lorelai's foot and a faint smile appeared on her lips in acknowledgement of her newly found freedom and of the regained trust it symbolized. She reached for his face, cupping it and letting her thumb run over his soft lips. He temporarily closed his eyes and softly bit her thumb, opening his eyes again to watch her reaction while he allowed only the very tip of his tongue to dart through his teeth and wet her captive thumb's skin.

She gasped, surprised and aroused by his lack of reserve, then tentatively leaned forwards, craving for his kiss, her hand still cupping his face. He leaned too and they met halfway in the sweetest of kisses, not much more than a peck, yet still lingering and intense. They retracted and smiled to each other, then Lorelai noticed the waiter, standing right behind their table and holding their two plates, apparently not daring to interrupt what looked like a very romantic moment between his customers.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Lorelai babbled. "We are keeping you from doing your job. Please, don't mind us and go on."

The waiter smiled. "There's no need to apologize, Madame. Here you are. Your steak au poivre with baked potato and the gentleman's roasted chicken with salad."

They thanked him and watched him walk away.

Luke put his napkin on his knees and muttered, "That was the first and last time I ever kiss in public. I can't believe the things you make me do."

"It was your idea, Mister. Who bit and licked my innocent thumb in the middle of a crowded restaurant?" Lorelai asked indignantly.

"I guess I got a little carried away," Luke admitted willingly.

"I guess I got carried away too. And I don't mind at all." She concluded attacking her dinner.

Half an hour later, they were still sitting at the restaurant table, pleasantly talking and smiling at each other. Lorelai had managed to eat her dinner and part of Luke's chicken, almost never stopping her chatter. As soon as they started eating, she had realized that she was really hungry after all, and that Luke was right to insist to take her to dinner.

"Do you feel better now?" Luke asked amused, after she had cleaned up all left-overs from their dishes.

"Yes. I can declare my tummy fully satisfied." She shot him an impish smile and said, in a slightly lower voice, "Actually, I'm still craving the aforementioned dessert. I still have to indulge this whim before feeling entirely content."

Luke cleared his throat softly, then said, "Right. I'll call our waiter to ask him for the dessert menu."

Lorelai looked at him in disbelief, "Luke, I really didn't think I would need to be more straightforward, but I was not talking about an actual dessert earlier."

Luke looked at her with a blank face, pretending not to know what she was talking about. "Really? I'm sorry. I know you like desserts, so I just assumed you wanted to get some."

Lorelai shot him a sideway glance and asked suspiciously, "You are not mocking me, are you?"

Luke bent his head to conceal an insuppressible smile and pretended to adjust the napkin on his lap.

"Ha! I caught you!" Lorelai exclaimed, having noticed his tactic. "I knew you couldn't be so dense!"

He busted into laughter and she started giggling as well. After a couple of minutes, he recovered enough to say, "Crap! I wanted to see how explicit I could get you to be."

"You are a meanie." She pouted.

"Yes, I know," he deadpanned, "I'm so mean that I will ask the waiter to put your dessert in a doggy bag, so that you'll be able to eat it whenever you'll want to."

Lorelai's face immediately lit up and she clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh, would you really do such a sweet thing for me? Can I take cheesecake _and _chocolate truffle pie?"

Luke rolled his eyes, but couldn't fight a surging smile. "I wonder every day how you don't weigh one thousand pounds."

"I workout," she answered immediately. He looked at her skeptically and she resumed, "Well, not yet," she leaned forward, her new position causing her V-neck to show much more cleavage than before, then she sucked in her lower lip to wet it and slowly released it, never shifting her gaze from his eyes, before adding under her breath, "but tonight I plan to workout a lot, if you don't mind helping me out."

He stood frozen for a moment, then slowly and breathlessly said, "OK. That was explicit enough. Give me a minute to recover, then I'll call the waiter."

She giggled, excited to see that neither would pretend not to be eager to be alone. "Fine. I have to go to the ladies' room. Don't run away in the meantime."

"I would be crazy if I did," he declared, in a no-nonsense tone.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8_

When Lorelai came back from the toilet, Luke was waiting for her with a bag containing her double dessert. He took her hand and they walked to the truck in silence, the sound of her high heels resonating through the parking lot. Once they were both inside the truck, Luke asked her, "Where do you want to go?"

"Your place," she simply answered, looking in his eyes.

"No movie?" he asked, just to be sure that he was not pushing her.

"Not tonight. We've waited far too long. As I told you, this is not a standard first date."

He nodded. "OK. I just want you to be sure."

She slid her right hand around his neck and drew her face next to his, whispering in his ear, "I'm absolutely sure, Luke. I've been wanting this - I've been wanting you - for quite a long time now." Unable to resist, she nibbled at his ear. "Did you forget that I was ready to do it in the diner storeroom this morning?"

He moaned, his mind foggy with the lust caused by her soft voice, her breath on his neck and the images of that same morning. "Lorelai. I still have to drive to Stars Hollow. Please, don't make me start something we won't be able to finish here."

Reluctantly she released his neck, allowing her hand to lazily caress his chest on its way back to her lap, then she sat sideways once again, her left shoulder and her head leaning against the seat backrest, in the very same position of the outward voyage, her gaze glued to his face. He swallowed hard, his eyes scanning the beautiful woman in front of him, for the first time allowing them to openly roam over her legs, her hips, her waist, her chest, her arms, her languid pose, her face, her slightly open lips and her beautiful and trusting eyes.

He shook his head to try to physically dispel the fog from his brain as he sighed loudly. "Let's go."

They drove in silence, Luke trying to focus on the street, Lorelai eventually surrendering to the overwhelming sensation of sharing that small space with him, both of them painfully aware of each other's arousal, but still unable to touch: they needed to get to Stars Hollow first. As Luke's jacket was now open, Lorelai could clearly see his hardness constrained in his slacks. She imagined he was wearing boxers, because his erection was running diagonally, pointing to his hips, past his pockets. The fabric was so stretched out that the fly was showing the zipper. She was almost dying to touch him, to open that zipper and give him a little relief. The mere thought made her moan. She was breathing hard and she knew he could hear her, but she didn't care. She thought that it was only fair to show him how much he turned her on: he had been showing her for a long time now, even if he didn't want to, just because he was a man and couldn't hide it.

"How long?" she panted.

"Less than five minutes," he answered, never daring to look at her.

"Good. I need to touch you."

"Lorelai," Luke groaned.

"I know. I'll wait. But I want you to know that not touching you is killing me," she breathily said.

"You have no idea," he retorted.

Almost five minutes later, Luke parked the truck near the diner back entrance. Even before he completed the parking move, Lorelai unfastened her seatbelt and took her purse and the doggy bag. As soon as he turned the engine off, she opened the door without waiting for him to do it and jumped out of the truck, meeting him in front of the diner back entrance. They were both panting as if they had been running from the restaurant, instead of driving.

Luke opened the door and Lorelai entered. She put her left foot on the first step, ready to climb the stairs to Luke's apartment, but she felt his grip on her hips and gasped, immediately abandoning her purse and doggie bag on the floor. He pressed his rock-hard erection against her soft ass, assaulting her neck from behind with his open mouth and eager tongue. His right hand was slipping under her dress, caressing and massaging her warm thighs, eager to reach the even warmer point where they met. His left hand was running over her stomach and her sides, splaying at the base of her right breast and pushing it up, savoring its softness.

She felt his touch in every fiber of her body. He was everywhere: his hot breath and his greedy mouth over her neck, ears and shoulders, his impatient and big hands all over her body, his hardness grinding onto her ass and hips, and his left thigh tantalizingly shifting between her legs. She moaned his name loud and put her left leg on the second stair, above his strong muscular thigh. He groaned in appreciation of the new position which gave him better access to her, and cupped her sex, still covered in black lace and radiating heat to his palm. He paused a moment, to give her the opportunity to stop him, but she didn't. On the contrary, she ground her mound against his hand. The unexpected movement made him feel just a hint of the soaked lace of her thong and he panted. "Jesus, Lorelai!"

She tried to turn but she was trapped in his strong embrace. "Please, let me touch you," she sighed.

"Not yet," he said hoarsely and slid his middle finger along the damp thong lower string, all the while sucking at her neck, squeezing her breast with his other hand and grinding his aching shaft against her soft curves. His finger didn't stop exploring, still without removing her underwear: he slightly pressed it to her entrance, feeling the lace getting even wetter and grunting in her ear. He became more impatient and eventually drew her thong aside to get full access to her. He moved his hand to a better angle that allowed him to slide his finger inside of her and circle her clit with his thumb, spreading her juices all over her sex. He tried to calm down a little, slow his movements and avoid applying excessive pressure with his fingers. He didn't want to hurt her.

"Is this OK?" he asked panting in her ear, tentatively inserting another finger into her wet heat.

"Yessss," she hissed, biting her lower lip and slowly rocking against his hand. He could feel her starting to close around his fingers and he knew she was almost there. He gently massaged her walls, moving his two fingers in small circles that mirrored the movement of his thumb on her clit, then applied a little more pressure to the base of her clit and she started to violently throb, clenching his fingers with an increasingly fast pace, until it eventually slowed and dwindled.

He removed his hand from her and brought his fingers to his mouth, tasting her on his hand. She was breathing erratically, completely spent from the long pent up tension and her violent climax, totally relaxed against his body. He was still hugging her from behind, his left thigh partially supporting her bent left leg.

"I can't move," she giggled.

"It's OK," he said, stroking her hair and softly kissing her neck. He shifted to her left side, put his left arm under her still bent left leg and his right arm around her waist, then told her, "Put your arms around my neck," and picked her up in his arms, as he started to climb the stairs and carried her to his apartment.

"I have to put you down on your feet, otherwise I can't open the door," he said in a husky voice when they reached the door.

"OK," she answered and slowly put down one foot at a time. Still with her arms around his neck, she turned to face him and kissed him deeply and slowly, with growing passion. After a couple of minutes, she said smirking, "I think it's better if you open that door, otherwise we risk doing something very inappropriate on almost every step of your stairway."

"Totally your fault," Luke grumbled while fighting to find the right key.

"_You _assaulted me from behind, Mister."

"Yeah. As I said, totally your fault," he said, while eventually opening the door and stepping inside the apartment pulling Lorelai by her hand.

"How can that be my fault?" she asked, entering the apartment and closing the door behind her.

"Your _behind_, as you call it, is definitely too sexy," he said, taking her into his arms again.

"Ooooh. So that's what you think, huh?"

"Yup. I wouldn't exactly say that I was _thinking_, but anyway…" He started kissing her neck, cupping her right breast with his hand and kissing the soft mound emerging at her neckline. "Mmm… Actually I'm pretty fond of your front as well."

She sighed. "I'm happy that you are." She gently stroked the front of his slacks, cupping his balls, then following the outline of his shaft with only one finger. "I'm pretty fond of your front too."

"Oh God," he groaned.

"I think you're wearing too many clothes." She started undressing him, peeling his jacket off his shoulders, then undoing his shirt buttons and opening his shirt, caressing his chest and shoulders with her hands flat while taking it off. Then she started undoing his belt. "And I also think I should buy you larger trousers. The ones you have are always too damn tight."

"I wonder why," he panted.

"You can't be comfortable with these on," she said opening his zipper. She knew there was no need to tease him, so she just aimed at freeing his trapped and swollen shaft from the constraint of his slacks.

"You should take your shoes off, Luke," she told him, before pulling down his trousers.

He toed his shoes and socks off, then noticed that Lorelai was still completely dressed. "Why don't you take your dress off?"

"Help with my zipper, will you?" she said, turning her back to him and brushing her hair aside.

He pulled her zipper all the way down. Her dress magically dropped in a black pool at her feet, and he was presented with her luscious and perfectly round buttocks, sexily framed in her black lace thong, the same thong he had used earlier to tease both of them. He felt a pang in his groin. "Jesus Christ," he exhaled, grabbing for a moment his aching erection through his underwear.

She turned to face him. "Are you OK?" He was looking at her astounded, unable to believe how beautiful she looked without her clothes on, breathing erratically. "Don't know. Maybe I'm gonna die, but I won't complain."

She chuckled flirtatiously. "Maybe I can help you feel better," she said as she put her two index fingers inside the waistband of his boxers, stretching it a little to make it larger on the front and avoid brushing on his already too sensitive flesh, then stripped his boxers down his thighs to his ankles, kneeling on her heels and facing his very stiff shaft. "Why, hello Captain! We eventually get to be properly introduced," she whispered, her hot breath tantalizing his throbbing hardness. With a feather-like touch she took him in her hand to keep him still while she slowly ran her soft and wet tongue from his base to his head, licking the small droplets on his tip and twirling her tongue around him. She softly applied her hot mouth over his head, slowly opening her wet lips to take him inside, her tongue once again joining the party and massaging his flesh.

He growled deep in his throat, then quickly reached for her arms and forcibly removed her from her position.

"Hey!" she managed to exclaim before he crashed his lips onto hers. She was still wearing her bra and thong, while he was completely naked. With a swift movement, he unclasped her bra and removed it, needing to feel her skin over his skin, the sensation of her soft breast and hardened nipples against his chest making him growl again in her mouth. He put both his hands on her buttocks and pressed her hard against his erection, squeezing and massaging her soft and smooth bottom.

She moaned loudly, then mirrored his actions, squeezing and caressing his firm muscular butt, craving for more closeness, almost losing her mind in the need of feeling him inside of her. She knew he was still taking his time because he wanted it to last for her, but she couldn't wait any longer. She put her hands over his chest, slightly pushing him away to regain control of her breath and of her besieged mouth. She put her right hand over his lips, gently caressing them, to effectively stop him and take an opportunity to talk. "Luke," she whispered.

"Yeah," he automatically answered, sucking her index and medium fingers inside his hot mouth and twirling his tongue around them.

"Please," she whimpered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

A faint smirk curved the corners of his greedy lips. "So polite," he muttered and started scraping her neck with his teeth, while licking and sucking her soft and perfumed flesh.

"Now, Luke," she tried again, hooking her right leg to his hips and grinding her soaked lace underwear against his erection to leave no space to misunderstandings. "I want you now."

He greedily attacked her mouth again, pinning her body to his with one arm around her waist and the other one under her bottom, to better support her and to clearly invite her to circle his hips with both legs. She complied with a small jump and he eventually took her to his bed, slowly bending with his left knee and right hand propping over it, and releasing her body under his, on the lower end of the bed. He was leaning over her, his arms supporting him at both sides of her head, his left knee between her legs on the edge of the bed and his right foot on the floor. He stared into her eyes, panting, waiting for her to confirm that she was ready.

She reached for his erection with both hands, finding it hot and throbbing against his stomach, defying gravity, and started stroking him, slowly yet firmly, one hand caressing his whole length and the other one gently working his balls. He sucked in a harsh breath, then hastily removed her hands, pinning them over her head. "If you do that, it will be over before it even starts" he warned her.

"So let's start it," she moaned, running her left leg over his right one.

He released her hands and started removing her thong, hooking his index fingers under its strings on her hips and peeling it down her long legs. He bent further towards her sex, to inhale her scent and couldn't resist the temptation of tasting her, so he splayed her legs further apart, lightly massaging her inner thighs until his long fingers came in contact with her outer lips which he proceeded to gently open with his thumbs. She was so wet that she was glistening inside and outside and he had to close his eyes for a moment to try to regroup and not make a fool of himself.

She was feeling his hot breath over her damp folds and that was increasing her arousal even more. "Luke, please," she whimpered. She propped on one elbow and said huskily, "Come here."

"I want to taste you," he said in a low voice, mesmerized by her beautiful body, completely open and ready for him.

She sprang to a sitting position and framed his face with his hands, forcing him to shift his gaze to her eyes, then breathed, "Don't".

"I want to make you come once again. I have a feeling that once inside you I won't last long," he said, tantalizingly sliding one finger along her damp folds.

She momentarily closed her heavy lids moaning in pleasure, responding to his soft touch, then forced her eyes open again and said in a low sexy voice, "I don't care. I need you hard and hot, deep inside of me."

That made him lose any residual control and he kissed her hard on her mouth, groaning and plunging one hand in her thick curls. They both moved towards the headboard, so that they could lie comfortably on the bed, all the way kissing and caressing each other. He then positioned himself between her bent legs, his forearms on either side of her head, careful not to pull her hair, staring at her beautiful flushed face.

"Lorelai," he softly said. She slowly opened her eyes, to look into his, then he added, "You know this is not just about sex, don't you? All this stupid story about your voice… It's never been about sex."

She blinked, surprised by the sudden change of mood, then remembered that this was _"her Luke"_, and she cupped his face and smiled, knowing that the caring side of this man would always be there for her, no matter what. "Oh Luke," she whispered and draw his mouth to hers in a new kiss, much softer than the ones they were exchanging immediately before.

He took his shaft in his right hand and started to tease her wet entrance with its tip. She bucked her hips upwards, to meet him and he groaned at her eagerness. He released his erection and used his right hand to pin her hips to the mattress, caressing her in what he hoped was a calming massage, needing her to wait for him to regain control. "Don't move," he whispered. She spread her legs wider and he slowly inserted just the head of his member, watching intently her face. He still didn't know Lorelai from the physical point of view, but he knew from past experiences that his size needed a little getting used to.

They both hold their breath, until Lorelai exhaled, "More".

He tried to breathe using the same pattern she taught him during that incredible Lingam massage, then almost painfully slowly he proceeded entering her tight wet center, feeling her soft and warm walls open up for him and enveloping his aching hardness, inch after inch, eventually soothing him and welcoming him. He stopped, half of his shaft still waiting for her permission to enter, opening his eyes that had fluttered closed in extreme pleasure, to study her expression once again, but he couldn't read her face. She was looking up at him, breathing erratically, mouth slightly opened, darkened eyes. "You OK?" he asked, brushing a lock of hair from her forehead. She slowly closed her eyes and whispered, "More," arching her back.

He kissed her lips with passion, slightly retreating from her heat, then plunging into her again and again, with long strokes, each time slightly increasing his tempo and burying a little more of his length into her soaked folds.

She cried his name and he froze, immediately scanning her face, afraid of having hurt her.

"Don't stop," she moaned, spreading her legs wider, wrapping them around his waist and hooking her heels over his butt, inviting him to get deeper. He resumed his thrusts, swelling inside of her and stretching her walls, creating more and more friction, while her core responded coating both of them in moisture until their body made lapping sounds with every thrust.

He knew he couldn't last much longer and he wanted to get her over the edge with him, so he slowly circled his hips, hitting her clit with the part of his shaft still outside of her swollen lower lips. She cried his name out once again and shuddered at the new sensation, pressing her heels on his butt, thus making his last inches penetrate her heat. She gasped, feeling a small hint of pain add more intensity to her pleasure and dug her nails into his back, unconsciously making him feel a similar hint of pain mingling into his own pleasure. He groaned and found a faster tempo, hitting her harder, unable to restrain anymore.

"Lorelai," he breathed in desperation.

"Let go Luke, I'm right there with you," she urgently panted, feeling very close to her own climax. "Oh God!" she chanted, while her muscles clamped around him and then burst into powerful spasms that eventually sent him over the edge. He kept plunging, releasing his essence into her, thrust after thrust, and prolonging her rapture for a time that seemed endless. Every time she thought it was over, her spasms were triggered again by his next thrust.

Eventually he slid both his arms under her hips to secure her to his body and carefully rolled over onto his back, without breaking their intimate connection, so that she was now on top of him, his hands splayed over her back, holding her tight, her head resting securely in the crook of his neck.

They remained in the same position for a few minutes, trying to control their breathing, then Lorelai started planting very light kisses to his neck and jaw. He turned his head to look at her and she smiled. One of her really happy smiles, the ones that reached her eyes and brightened her whole face. He sighed happily, smiling as well, and tightened his embrace, basking in their afterglow.

"Luke," she whispered, still a little breathily.

"Mmm," he answered, feeling drowsy.

"Promise me that if we ever meet in our next lives, you'll jump me right away, without waiting for years."

"OK."

"Even if I'm a mushroom and you're a kangaroo."

"That would be tricky," he mumbled, raising an eyebrow.

"Doesn't matter. If you wake up in your next life being a kangaroo and you feel strangely attracted by a pretty mushroom, promise me you will jump it. No dates, no friendship, no comas… nothing at all," she rambled.

"OK," he murmured, finding no use in trying to contradict her.

"Or maybe you could just eat the mushroom. I don't know if kangaroos eat mushrooms, but maybe eating it would be easier than jumping it. A kangaroo is just too big for a mushroom." She frowned, pensive. "Of course I've never seen a kangaroo _toolkit_, but it could easily be bigger than a mushroom, in which case, maybe it would be better if it would be the mushroom to jump the kangaroo..."

"That's starting to sound a little disturbing now."

"Mmmm, apparently you like disturbing images," she whispered hoarsely, noticing that he was already getting hard again, still buried inside of her.

"I've got you naked in my bed, at last. That's the thing I really like." He started to caress her spine. Long, sensuous strokes which alternated light fingertip touches with more greedy open palm massages. "Is this OK?"

"That's so much more than OK!" she mewed. She raised her head from his shoulder and looked into his deep blue eyes, shaded by long, dark eyelashes, and she could easily discern passion and care, but also something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Was it hesitation? "What's wrong Luke?" she asked, slowly caressing him from his shoulder to his neck and cheek.

He swallowed hard, trying to focus on what to say. "I thought I knew you well, but I realize that I don't. Earlier, I couldn't read your face. I didn't know if you wanted me to stop or to go on."

She smiled and whispered, "Why on earth do you think I would want you to stop?" Still straddling him, she lightly brushed her lips over his, softly sucking his lower lip inside her mouth and caressing it with just the tip of her tongue.

He groaned, gently lowered her left leg and rolled them over to one side, his shaft less deeply inside of her due to the new position. "You have to teach me, Lorelai."

She moaned, raising her upper leg higher over his hip. "Doesn't look like you need any teaching." She closed her eyes to savor the feeling of him expanding inside of her and of his rough hands caressing her thighs, her sides, her ribcage, and gently massaging the soft mound of her breast, pinching her nipples into hardness. "Oh God! You are ready to obtain a master degree in Lorelailogy."

Still gently squeezing her breast, he lowered his head and started suckling at her nipple, teasing it with his tongue, and slowly increasing the intensity of the suction. She arched her back to give him better access and to take one more inch of his length into her hot wet center. They both groaned at the sensation. Lorelai's legs where positioned asymmetrically, the lower leg laying against Luke's one while the upper leg held his hip, and this allowed him to hit new, unexplored spots inside of her. "You feel so good," she panted, lightly circling her hips.

"I need you to tell me," he grumbled against her wet nipple.

"Tell you what?" she asked, her mind confused by the multiple overwhelming sensations showering her body.

"What do you want?" he clarified, forcing himself not to move his stiff member until he knew for sure that she wanted him to.

Lorelai automatically clenched her walls around him, intensifying their pleasure and making him groan again "I want you." she panted, "whatever you want to give me, I'll take it."

He didn't need any other encouragement. He rolled them over once again, so that Lorelai was lying on her back, looking up at him with heavy eyelids and flushed cheeks. He looked down at her, still marveling at her beauty, and he ever-so-slowly retracted from her, his shaft coming almost all the way back to the head, still watching her intently. Lorelai closed her eyes and pressed her head against the pillow sensuously moaning and arching her back. Luke couldn't resist the sight of her perky breasts calling for his attention and he greedily attacked them with his mouth, pushing them close together with his big hands and lightly squeezing them. Then he gently put both his arms under her legs, to raise them further, and he began to slide back inside of her. Her feet went up high around his shoulders and she locked her ankles together, giving him full access to her deep core. He looked into her eyes searching for a confirmation, craving to fully possess her, to plunge deeper, to hit her harder, and she nodded once, her mouth slightly open and her eyes darker with desire.

Luke crashed his mouth over hers, kissing her passionately, massaging her tongue with his one, meeting her teeth with his own teeth, biting her lips, and groaning deeply in her mouth. He started pulling out and pushing back almost his entire length, with a steady rhythm, getting deeper and harder into her on every stroke, filling her completely and stimulating her clit with his sliding shaft. But he needed more.

He rolled them over again, supporting Lorelai's legs in the meantime, then sat up, releasing Lorelai's legs down at his sides, so that she was now straddling him, sitting on his thighs, while he was seating on the bed. They kissed again, then he bent his legs to support Lorelai's back and slowly laid back, holding her hips to prevent her following his descent, thus reaching a new, deeper angle.

Lorelai gasped, trying to lower her torso towards him, feeling his hardness stretch her walls and his tip push too hard against her front, but his hands kept her pinned against his thighs. He felt her try to ease her position and helped her to move slightly up his shaft, pulling her with his hands on her waist.

"Your legs," he suggested under his breath, still holding her tight to prevent her to fall downwards.

She immediately understood what he meant and shifted her legs so that her shins were on the bed and she was able to raise herself without his help. As if to test the control this new position gave her, she slowly moved upwards, until only his tip was inside of her, then stopped, staring at him. His right hand ran to his shaft to keep it in position and prevent it from completely sliding out of her heat. Then his right hand started to gently roam over her body, stroking her long thighs, her hips, her slim waist, her ribcage, her breasts, trying to memorize her every curve. He was watching her, taking in her disheveled hair, her slightly open swollen lips, her flushed face and her shiny blue eyes and couldn't believe that it was him who caused the evident desire written all over her features.

"You are beautiful," he gruffly said.

She bit her lower lip and closed her eyes, slowly lowering herself to take him deeper inside of her, one inch at a time, to allow her tight flesh to adjust to his throbbing hardness. Luke grasped the sheets at his sides to find the strength he needed to resist thrusting hard into her, all his senses almost painfully stimulated by her very sensuous quality: he could see his shaft slowly swallowed by her lower lips, feel her walls cling to him, smell her arousal, hear her low moans and taste her kisses on his lips.

She stopped her descent halfway down and started to circle her hips, allowing his hard member to massage her sensitive walls, providing more pleasure to both of them and creating more lubrication.

"Jesus Lorelai, you're killing me!" Luke told her through clenched teeth, his hands still grasping sheets.

She smirked, shooting him an impish glance, then resumed her slow descent, still circling her hips. "Just one more sec," she panted, needing him not to move until she was all the way down. "I'll make it worth your while."

She saw him taking deep breaths and smiled: she knew he was trying to keep calm using the breathing pattern she had taught him. "Good boy," she whispered. Slowly yet inexorably she slid all the way down along his erection, then stopped again, breathing hard. "Hey," she exhaled.

"Hi," he choked.

She started stroking and massaging his tight abdomen and his firm pecs, following the trail created by his soft hair, from his groin to his navel, then over his chest. His hands flew to her hips. She shifted her gaze to his adoring face and saw that he was waiting for her to let him know if he could move.

She bent at her waist, not willing to change position now that she could eventually hold it without any pain, and planted a soft kiss on his lips. He immediately deepened the kiss, eagerly opening his mouth and holding her neck, massaging it with his thumb. They started to move at the same time, their tongues mirroring the movement of their groins, growing in intensity and rhythm. Then Lorelai straightened up, leaning her back against Luke's still bent thighs, spreading her legs wider, furiously bobbing up and down, suddenly eager for more. He felt him swell even more inside of her and moaned loudly, her juices covering his groin and making his pubic hair damp.

He sprung to a sitting position, lowered his legs and held her tight in his arms against his chest. He resumed kissing her hungrily, never stopping his upwards thrusts, hitting her swollen clit at every thrust with his pubic bone. She cried his name, stilled for a moment, then came hard, whimpering and shuddering in his arms. He slowed his thrusts into a gentle, unsteady movement, waiting for her to eventually come down and letting her fast and violent spasms be the only real movement to massage his sensitive flesh.

When her contractions became less frequent, he slid out of her, eased her with her back on the bed, then kneeled with his face amidst her legs, his hands massaging her thighs to gradually spread them further apart. Without letting her any time to recover, he immediately attacked her with his mouth, running his tongue along her soaked folds, greedily plunging into her as far as he could, his tongue a hard muscle rippling inside of her still throbbing heat and sending her higher again. He circled her clit with his tongue, then closed his lips around it and started to suck, his tongue still gently lipping, and inserted one, then two fingers inside of her. He could feel her soft, warm walls tighten around his fingers, steadily throbbing, then he heard her screaming his name as she hit another peak, even higher that the last one. He didn't stop sucking and lipping and thrusting into her with his fingers, drawing out her climax and pushing her higher still. The taste and smell of her arousal, the view of her pulsating sex, the sound of her moans and cries were completely intoxicating. He couldn't get enough. He was the man who was making her come again and again and again. He was the man whose name she was screaming. And he felt like he could do this for the rest of his life, never stopping his ministrations, even if his erection was still in full force and begged for attention.

Lorelai didn't seem to have any control over her body. She wasn't even trying to understand what he was doing to her. She only knew that she had never felt like this in her own life and that her climax seemed to have no end.

Eventually Luke raised his head from her sex, needing to hold her in his arms. He lay down on his right side next to her, circling her waist with his left arm and trying to get as close as possible to her still shivering body. He put his left leg across her thighs, sandwiching his rigid member between his tight abdomen and her soft curves, resisting the urge to thrust into her exposed smoothness and trying to control his breath. He got closer to her neck and started to suck the tender flesh just below her jaw, feeling her fast pulse.

"Oh my! You're still hard!" she whimpered in a soft breathy voice.

"Yeah. Sorry," he grunted.

She chuckled lightly, then moaned when Luke pressed his erection against her hip, gently caressing her breast. She turned on her left side, facing him. Staring into his eyes she reached for his shaft and started to caress it with only one finger sliding up and down his length. "What did you do to me?" she whispered. He closed his eyes groaning deep in his throat. "I don't think I'll ever be able to walk again, let alone make love to you right now," she added regretfully.

"OK," he panted, instinctively thrusting against her hand to get more friction.

She smirked. "Let me see… This has to go down." She gently forced his upper leg down along his lower one, then shifted her pelvis closer to his. Holding his stiff member in her hand, she trapped it between her soft thighs, moving her pelvis even closer to his. The natural inclination of his erection made it push against her still soaked folds and she started to undulate her hips, sliding her wetness against his stiff length. She tried to tighten her thighs, to offer him the maximum friction, still lubricating him with her own juices. They went on like this for several minutes, kissing each other passionately, desperately thrusting against each other's body, but eventually they had to admit that it was not working: for as much as Lorelai tried, she couldn't cancel her thighs gap. The gentle friction and the high amount of lubrication were increasing even more Luke's arousal.

Lorelai raised her leg onto Luke's hip, stroking his newly released length with her wet center and whispered in his ear. "Can you feel how wet you make me? This is not a remainder of what you did to me before. This is all new, babe." She kept on moving against his hardness, then took him in her hand and positioned his tip at her entrance. "Apparently I was wrong: I'm ready for you again, my love Stakhanovite!"

He put one hand on her hip to stop her, then peered at her eyes and asked hoarsely, "You sure?" He took in a shaking breath, then continued, "We don't have to, you know."

She raised one eyebrow and gently squeezed his shaft. "You want me to squander this wonder? I'm afraid I'm physically unsuitable for that."

His eyes fluttered closed at her squeeze, then he added panting, "I thought you were kind of sore."

She hold him tight against her and rolled them over, so that he was now laying on his back and she was on top of him, straddling his hips, her breasts pressing onto his chest, her warm breath on his neck and ear. "Maybe I was. Maybe I will be later, but right now I'm just feeling painfully empty. Don't you want to satisfy my craving?"

"Oh my God. We'll kill each other with exhaustion," he panted, then took her head with both his hands and kissed her hard on her mouth. She took him in her hand again, lifted her hips and positioned him at her entrance, then tentatively slid down, slowly engulfing him. They both knew they had to take it easy, in case Lorelai would actually be too sore to enjoy it. She felt slightly uncomfortable at the beginning, but when he started to gingerly move his hips, she opened up for him and welcomed him into her hot center.

This time they made love slowly and fondly, their lips always connected, their hands roaming over each other's body, their legs sliding over the other's legs in a long, affectionate caress.

They didn't notice when the sun rose. They didn't notice when Luke's phone rang. They didn't notice that they went on all the night and a good part of the following day making love and lightly dozing, too tired not to rest, yet simply unable to break their long craved intimate connection.

But they surely noticed when someone banged on the door, and a timid, yet clearly panicked voice called "Luke! Are you there?"

Lorelai immediately sprung up, as if she had just received a bucket of cold water. "Rory!" she exclaimed under her breath, then in a louder voice, "Rory, hold on a sec."

"Mom! Thanks God!" Rory exclaimed behind the glass door, relief evident in her tone.

"Don't move honey!" Lorelai called, quickly scanning the room to find something to put on. She saw Luke's shirt on the floor and rushed to pick it up, not giving herself the time to think about the man that she was leaving in the bed. She got her right arm into the shirt sleeve, then run to the door while sliding into the other sleeve. She kept the shirt closed with her hands and opened the door just enough to slip outside of the apartment, without exposing Luke to Rory's glance, then closed the door behind her.

"Rory, what's up? Are you OK?" Lorelai asked, anxiously scrutinizing Rory's eyes and holding her daughter 's arm with one hand, still using the other to keep Luke's shirt closed.

Rory was staring at her mother with wide eyes, agape. "Mom! What the hell are you doing dressed like that? Well, I'd rather say _undressed_ like that. I was dead worried. We all were!" Her voice was passing from an astonished tone to an angry one.

Lorelai frowned, suddenly feeling defensive and starting to realize that she could have lost track of time. "What do you mean? Why were you worried? You knew I was going out with Luke. Maybe I didn't warn you that I could have spent the night at Luke's, but I couldn't know for sure how the date would end, and I knew you would sleep at Lane's anyway. So I thought that, since you wouldn't be home, what could be the use of letting you know that I wouldn't be there too?"

"I can't believe it!" Rory muttered under her breath, then resumed in an angry tone, "Do you realize that your date with Luke was more than 20 hours ago? Almost a whole day? When I came home this morning to get changed and go to school, you were not there. I thought _Oh, she must have spent the night with Luke!_ Then, when I came home after school, you were not there either. I thought you could be at the Inn, but Michel told me nobody had seen you. I thought it was strange, because I didn't know you were going to take a day off. Anyway, I tried to call you on your cell phone, but you never answered, and now I know why," she said, pointing to Lorelai's purse and to the restaurant doggy bag that were hanging from her hand.

"Oh!" Lorelai interjected, blushing at the thought of the previous night events. "I forgot these downstairs," she added sheepishly, closing a few buttons of Luke's shirt, with the double use of feeling less exposed and occupying her now nervous hands.

"Yeah, that you did! Very smart of you!"

Lorelai reached for Rory's cheek, to try to placate her. "Listen Rory, I'm very sorry."

"No. I didn't finish yet! You have to let me finish, Missy!" Rory exclaimed, escaping Lorelai's caress and pointing her finger to her mother.

"OK," Lorelai said, contritely.

"Then I thought _Well, Luke will surely know where she is _and I called the diner. Caesar told me that he didn't know where Luke was, but the truck was parked in its usual place, so maybe he was just upstairs. I asked him if he could go upstairs and call Luke, but he chuckled and said _I know better than to disturb my boss on his only day off!_" Rory said, trying to imitate Caesar voice and making Lorelai giggle.

"It's not funny!" Rory snapped, once again pointing her finger to her mother, in a perfect role reversal.

"Sorry," Lorelai promptly answered, starting to see the humor in being scolded by her teen daughter, yet perfectly aware of the uncomfortable position she was in.

"Then I called Luke's apartment, but nobody answered. So I decided to come and see if maybe you were both here feeling sick for something you ate yesterday, but of course in the meantime I called Sookie, Babette, Miss Patty… and now half of Stars Hollow is looking for you!" Rory's volume had increased considerably, as her anger did, and she was now panting.

"Oh, Rory!" Lorelai sighed.

"Don't _Oh-Rory _me! I thought you might be dead in a ditch, while you were here doing God knows what, wearing nothing."

Lorelai chuckled. "I'm sure you know what I was doing, wearing nothing."

Rory blushed and her hands flew to cover her ears. "I don't want to know. I prefer to imagine that you and Luke had a perfectly family-friendly first date!"

"OK. Sorry."

"Stop saying that you're sorry!"

"But I am. And I really don't know what else I should say! Listen, Luke and I, we sort of lost track of time. That's all. I know it sounds lame, but it's true. I also know that usually I'm not this kind of mother, and I promise I won't be anymore. Usually no guy could make me forget about my duties, but this is Luke. I just… I don't know. I think I got lost into my feelings for him. As sappy as it may sound, I do believe that this is what happened. This doesn't change what I feel for you. Of course you'll always come first in my life, but this one time, on my first date with the man I love, I got love drunk."

Rory goggled her eyes. "Did you just say you love him?"

Lorelai grinned. "Yeah."

Rory's hands flew to her mouth, then she started to jump up and down, squeaking excitedly.

Lorelai laughed. "Rory, calm down! Sssh! You will make everyone in the diner wonder what's going on here!"

Rory stopped and took both of Lorelai's hands. "Mom! This is really great! I'm so happy for you guys! Have you told him yet?"

"Not yet. I wonder if he would think that it's too early. We've only been on one date! I'm not sure that he wants to hear about it yet."

In that moment, the glass door opened and Luke stepped out, wearing his jeans and a green and blue plaid shirt, but without any cap to allow his hair to dry from the quick shower he had just taken. "Hi Rory. What is it that I don't want to hear about?"

"Hey Luke! Mom was telling me about your date!" Rory told him enthusiastically.

Luke's cheeks, once again covered in stubble, colored a deeper shade of pink, and he said, shooting a perplexed glance to Lorelai, "Oh, really? But why don't we go inside? It is not very private out here!"

"Thanks Luke, but I really have to go. I have homework for tomorrow and I hate to get started so late!" Rory said, flashing Lorelai a dirty look to remind her mother that she was the reason why she was starting her homework that late. "I guess I'll see you at home Mom. Why don't you bring dinner when you come back?" She then turned to Luke, as if she suddenly had a good idea. "Luke, why don't you come over as well?"

He grinned. "Do you want me to?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, of course. You know we both like to have you around."

"OK, then," he gruffly said. "See you later Rory, and thanks!"

Rory started to descend the stairs while answering, "Yeah, yeah. Don't let her be late again, or you'll both be grounded!"

Lorelai and Luke chuckled, watching Rory from above, while Luke's hand searched for Lorelai's. When the younger Gilmore exited, Luke brought Lorelai's hand to his lips and told her, "Why don't you take a shower and get dressed? I'll go downstairs to prepare our dinner. You must be starving."

Lorelai plastered her body to his, their faces only millimeters away. "Not really. Exhausted, yes. But you gave me plenty of _dessert _tonight, the kind of dessert that plants a big fat community of each sort of restless butterflies inside my stomach, so hunger is not really the first thing on my mind now," she whispered with an impish grin.

Luke raised one eyebrow and automatically encircled her waist with his arms. "Knowing you as I do, that's hardly believable."

Lorelai wrapped her arms around his neck and started to play with the still damp soft hair that curled at the nape. "Well, what can I say? In one single day every unfaltering Gilmore principle have been turned over, and I have to blame _you_, my friend, for that."

"Oh really?" Luke asked amused.

"Yeah, really. First of all, I never date friends. And it goes without saying that you proved me wrong."

"Good. I'm glad I did." He smirked.

"Then, I never leave a restaurant without at least tasting one of their desserts. And I'm sorry to say that, even if we brought the desserts home, we never got to taste them."

"Yeah, I'm afraid that this crime could be ascribed to my wicked deeds," he said, feigning contrition.

"Thirdly, I never - and that is a huuuuge never - sleep with a man on a first date."

"Well, we didn't exactly get to sleep, so maybe this doesn't count."

"Oh yes, Mister. It does count, and exactly because we didn't get to sleep. And here we get to the fourth, which is that I never make love for any longer than one hour. It's too exhausting and it makes me look as scruffy and disheveled as a tramp."

"That's not true," he said hoarsely, lowering his voice to a whisper and getting his mouth closer to her ear. "It makes you look beautiful and as sexy as hell!"

She giggled. "Stop that! Do you realize that we've been making love for almost one whole day? I didn't even think it was physically possible!"

He smiled and held her tighter in his arms, savoring the feeling of her supple body against his, happy to know that they eventually were an item. "Everything is possible when it comes to you, Lorelai!"

She took one step backwards to look him in the eye and said under her breath, "And this brings us to the last thing: I never fall in love on a first date. I don't even know if I ever fell in love before."

Luke's heart skipped a beat. He hold his breath for a moment, then babbled, "Are you sure?"

Lorelai sighed loudly, then resumed, "Well, technically I think that I fell in love with you long before our first date, so maybe it doesn't count, I don't know. But if I ever needed any confirmation to this incontrovertible fact, I got it yesterday and today." She shot him a breathtaking smile. "So, yes, I'm sure. I love you, Luke. I'm desperately in love with you."

He kissed her hard on her lips, before holding her tight against his body again, murmuring in her hair, "I love you too. So much that sometimes I think that it defines me."

She smiled against his shoulder, just relishing his hug and the echo of his sweet words. Eventually they eased their embrace and they searched each other's eyes, both grinning like kids.

"I think we should get ready, otherwise Rory will ground us. You heard her," Lorelai said.

"Yeah," Luke reluctantly agreed.

"What would this be? The family-friendly part of our first date?" She giggled. "That's the longest first date ever! I hope you won't get sick of me. That would set a new record: dumped during the first date."

"Not gonna happen," Luke said resolutely. _What the hell! I would be the happiest man on earth if this first date lasted a lifetime!_

"So, is this how it is going to be from now on?" Lorelai asked raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Shall we have to make love for hours so that you'll be too worn out to react to my voice?"

Luke gently caressed her cheek, then rested his hand on her neck and whispered in her ear "I'll never be too worn out to react to you, Lorelai!"

She theatrically rolled her eyes. "Man, what a piece of work!"


End file.
